When we heard that the president was going to be speaking, we knew we needed to make our presence known. If ever there was a moment in our lifetimes when it should truly matter that we had a Black president, now was that time, we felt. But President Barack Obama had not shown up for us. Why hadn't he come to Ferguson to be on the ground with us? He hadn't acknowledged Frontline's leadership. He'd had a meeting at the White House in December 2014 with activists from our movement, but not one person from Frontline had been invited. Why hadn't he opened the door to all of us? Here in Selma, we had the opportunity to make it known that President Obama had not met the moment. I expected him to show up for us, to come to what we called "ground zero" so that we could tell him what was really happening. I believed if he set foot onto West Florissant Avenue in the early days of our protests, or onto South Florissant Road, where the protests had moved to, the aggressive and violent treatment of protesters would cease. Maybe he could ease some of the burden that Michael Brown Jr.'s family carried as they were villainized while working to seek accountability for his death. He was a Black president, and regular, everyday Black people needed him just to show up. Presence can speak volumes.

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "When we heard that the president was going to be speaking, we knew we needed to make our presence known. If ever there was a moment in our lifetimes when it should truly matter that we had a Black president, now was that time, we felt. But President Barack Obama had not shown up for us. Why hadn't he come to Ferguson to be on the ground with us? He hadn't acknowledged Frontline's leadership. He'd had a meeting at the White House in December 2014 with activists from our movement, but not one person from Frontline had been invited. Why hadn't he opened the door to all of us? Here in Selma, we had the opportunity to make it known that President Obama had not met the moment. I expected him to show up for us, to come to what we called "ground zero" so that we could tell him what was really happening. I believed if he set foot onto West Florissant Avenue in the early days of our protests, or onto South Florissant Road, where the protests had moved to, the aggressive and violent treatment of protesters would cease. Maybe he could ease some of the burden that Michael Brown Jr.'s family carried as they were villainized while working to seek accountability for his death. He was a Black president, and regular, everyday Black people needed him just to show up. Presence can speak volumes." in the context of "Cori Bush The Forerunner: A Story of Pain and Perseverance in America (2022) p 190" to mean that wisdom is timeless.