Elyjajuan Huddleston, 19
Works as a health aide for autistic adults.
I loved high school. I was on the honor roll. Since I graduated, I've been working hard. I do home health care, helping people with autism. My brother has autism, so I've been working with people with autism my whole life, for real. I want to go to school for nursing, or maybe electrical engineering since I'm good at fixing iPhones and stuff. But I've been trying to get situated, get my financial part ready first.
Mike Brown's death scared me. I've been down that road. It could have been me. I'd never heard of a police officer shooting somebody, like they didn't matter. I've seen kids steal stuff from the store, but it never got to that point. And then for him to be in class with me, for me to know him since 7th grade, it was even worse. So I'm like, dang, that could've been me or something. It was crazy.
I'm scared of the police now. Just because they have power and a certain weapon on their hip, they think they can treat you like a dog. People get pulled over, like Sandra Bland. I can see, that's me right there.
I used to like the police, the fire department, all that. I used to want to call them. I used to be so interested, fascinated. But now it's like beef. Everytime I see a police officer, I feel beef. I wish it was like it was back in the day, because it didn't used to be like that. It's crazy now. We're scared of the police now.
One thing is for certain, I'm going to make sure I get a degree. I'm not going to be satisfied until I get a degree. I'm not going to sleep. I have to have that. I'm not going to my grave without a degree.
Jermondia Rogers, 19
Jermondia is working at a call center. She is planning to study criminal justice in the fall.
After the Mike Brown thing, I figured out I like talking to younger teens, the ones that are going down the wrong path, because I was going down the wrong path before, and I didn't have nobody to talk to. So I feel if go into criminal justice I could really help misled teens.
When I was younger I used to say, "My mom died because she was sick." I know there are other kids out there who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. I feel like I want to talk to people like that, because that is a hard thing to do. I just want to be there for somebody else because I didn't have nobody there for me.
I always think nobody listens to me, nobody really cares, but when I actually tell my story people be listening. They be like, 'I never knew there was all that in you.' And I be like yep, one story can change one person's life, a million people's lives, you never know.
Raquel Merriweather, 20
Raquel graduated from the St. Louis School of Phlebotomy and recently started working as a technician for the Red Cross.
I have good memories and I have bad memories, like any other high school in America. I loved prom, I loved my dress. But Mike Brown's death put a fire in me. I thought, let me try to continue up for him. He can't do it for himself, but I can do it for him.
I don't want to be another number or statistic. I can't be out vandalizing things, because that's not going to bring back Mike Brown. But what I can do for him is be a better example. I can show that not all African Americans resort to violence. Not all young people don't have wisdom.
Mike Brown was a catalyst. Mike Brown brought it out in the light.
I just want to improve myself. If I have kids, I want them to look up to me just like I look up to my parents. I want to be like Lady Liberty, that symbol. I want them to look up to me for years to come.
It's been a year since Mike Brown died.
How has America changed?
Share your thoughts with #FergusonLegacy
Victoria Blount, 19
Student at the Art Institute of St. Louis
A normal day at Normandy is like a normal high school. Everybody's having fun, laughing around, playing, until they take a test. Then they're all upset. But Mike Brown's death reigned over everyone. If you picture every student losing a sibling or their mother, that's how the depression felt. There wasn't a smile to be seen for a very long time. It didn't affect me until I saw how it affected other people. Because when the news spread about his death, it was like a storm came in.
Over the last year I've learned that rumors spread extremely fast and once rumors spread, it's really hard to separate the legit details from the made up ones. I did not like how the media portrayed our school. It was really upsetting, because now most people say when they hear about Normandy, "Oh it's a poor school. It's filled with ghetto kids. Everybody there probably don't know how to read or write or act correctly in public or anything." But it was actually a really good school with really nice people.
I'm glad I got accepted to the Art Institute. It was the only school I wanted to go to, because it has a three-year bachelor program so I can get done with it. One of my hopes is that one day St. Louis will be a place that's not dangerous. And I hope to make enough money to get my mom out of the house that she lives in. That's what I really want to do. I want to make enough money to support my mom since she's been supporting me all of my life.
M
ichael Brown was shot and killed one year ago by Police Officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. His death ignited
riots, set off protests around the country and inspired the Black Lives Matter movement.
Brown graduated high school a few weeks before he died. He was eighteen years old. Eighteen is that delicious moment in life, a time of new beginnings. The promise of the future is bright. Brown's death hit his classmates especially hard. Normandy High School was a family, they say. The students called each other brothers and sisters. And when they lost Brown, it was like losing a member of that family.
The Huffington Post talked to several of Brown's classmates. Despite their grief, they have carried on. Some started college. One embarked on a career in home health care; another is studying graphic design. But all of them are forever scarred by how Brown died at the hands of the police. All of them say they believe it could have been their body left on the pavement for hours. Below, they share their stories, reflecting on the past and looking to the future.
These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Alexa Johnson, 19
Majoring in journalism at Lincoln University.
When I was in high school, we had a security guard and she used to call me Barbara Walters, because I knew everything. Whatever went on, it never got past me. I never missed nothing. So I was like maybe I should go into journalism, because that's what I like to do. I like to know information.
I feel like Mike Brown's death changed me as a person, it just made me look at things different. When I see a police officer, it makes me feel like, "Oh I need to record you, because I don't know what may happen next." I feel like Mike Brown's death did not change anything for the positive. I feel like police brutality, that's never going to stop. Black-on-black crime is never going to stop. I just feel like nothing has changed after he died.
After he died, it really made me want to be a journalist, state true facts. I'm going to go after everything people want to know. Plus, I like sports – I like basketball specifically – so I was like, maybe I want to go into basketball journalism, since I'm good at gossiping. Whatever deals with journalism, I want a part of it.
Chaella Jones, 19
Student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where she double majors in social work and music education.
What happened to Michael Brown hurt me. I'm just now really speaking to people about it. Like I go on his Instagram page and Facebook page quite frequently and just type something – you know, "I miss you," and stuff like that. Michael Brown was really friendly. I used to always run into him, like, "you're not going to give me a hug today?" and he would give me this big, ol' hug. He was like my big old teddy bear and he smelled really good. You know when guys wear the cologne? He was really nice and friendly. He was very protective over his close ones.
I love college. I had a couple of hard things, you know, a lot of lessons learned. But it feels good to be on my own. I get to take care of me and me only. I don't have to share with my little brother anymore!
Martin Luther King had marches and it caused change, but at this point we need to use our education. Education is very important. We need to use our education to change what needs to be changed. I can give you my opinion on everything and still something won't change. Me and my momma can have a debate about what we're going to cook for dinner, and guess what's going to happen? She's going to cook what she wants to cook! I spoke up, right?
But speaking up for yourself is not going to cause change. What's going to cause change is everybody majoring in criminal justice or law or something. Cause we're not the ones making the law – the people ahead of us are making the law. So why not take their jobs? Use our education, get a degree or something, and make it better.
Crimi and his wife, Nomi.