'Our kids matter:' 5 protesters explain why they protested

Los Angeles is nearly 2,000 miles away from Ferguson, but crowds still gathered there on Monday night in a show of solidarity for Michael Brown’s family.

Protesters near downtown L.A. blocked a major city freeway. In South Los Angeles’ Leimert Park the mood, was much different. People stood next to each other and shared their frustrations. Fusion asked demonstrators at the park what made them come out to express their feelings after the grand jury decision not to indict police officer Darren Wilson.

Shanarri, 13

Shanarri attended the protest in Leimert Park with his mother. He’s barely a teen but understands that race may have been a factor in Monday night’s grand jury decision. “Our kids matter,” his mother said.

Jorge Gutierrez, 30

Jorge Gutierrez says he went to Monday night’s protest in L.A. to show solidarity. “Young brown men are being sent to prison, our families are getting deported, we have LGBT folks being killed for who they — and all of this violence is happening against people of color.”

Ron Collins, 25

Ron Collins said he questions what a black life is worth in the U.S. “Our lives basically mean absolutely nothing, not in the court of law, not in the streets…but one thing all this does do is give me a fuel and a fire to bring my community together,” said Collins, an organizer with the Labor Community Strategy Center. #Ferguson #FergusonDecision

Latifah

Laifah said she attended Monday night’s protest in Los Angeles to show support to Michael Brown’s family and because the police were “stealing our rights in small portions”

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Anonymous

“It’s a game, we just got caught in a bad game,” said a young man who wished to remain anonymous. “If we do what we’re doing in Leimert Park and stay at peace with one another we’ll be able to beat what they’re trying to do.”

Jorge Rivas is the national affairs correspondent at Fusion. He follows the national conversation through the lens of racial, sexual, and political identity.