“Mike, Jr. said one day the world would know his name. We share the same name and I am building a legacy in his honor.”
On August 9, 2014
Michael Brown, Jr. was brutally murdered by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Each time a young Black man loses his life because of police brutally, Michael’s father, Michael Brown, Sr. relives the pain he suffered from his son’s untimely death.
Mr. Brown, Sr. decided to turn his “pain into purpose” and established The Michael Brown Foundation d/b/a Chosen for Change (CFC).
Chosen for Change focuses on providing support to other families who have lost loved ones due to police brutality or community violence. Brown, Sr. and the CFC mourns the unconscionable murders of Delrawn Small, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Alva Braziel and those individuals whose names we may never hear or know. We had a chance to sit down with Mike Brown Sr. to talk about the organization and where he is today on his journey.
Take us back to when your son was killed and what that was like for you?
In real time, what it was like for me, anger, mad, revenge, wanted war, wanted whatever they wanted to do. Waking up just angry every morning. Not able to, you know, just not able to, you know, just rewind it back in my head as far as like, what just happened? What just happened? You know what I’m saying? This didn’t happen, you know? And replaying the next day footage on the TV with his face all over. Like, damn, that really did happen, you know? So just trying to understand what went on, where it went wrong, and where’s the person that did this? You know what I’m saying?
Who are you as a father today?
Very protective, probably overprotective, loving, more caring, more supportive, more talkative. I’m probably everything that I never imagined to be as far as being, thinking that I’m that perfect one now. I might be a little bit too over protective, but it comes with the territory. You definitely don’t want nothing like that to happen to you again. That’s just what it is. We do outings all the time. My baby girl, the one that was in the pictures with Mike, the one people thought that was Mike’s daughter, which is his sister. She’s in the gymnastics, soccer, all different type of things. Her name is Mykael. She is at Walgreens doing pharmacy and stuff like that. They remember and they still trying to cope with it in a way that they know how to cope with it, but I’m just glad they not stopping. They got that drive, but I’m glad that I didn’t stop because I am. The male is almost like the little girl’s first boyfriend, first idol, first love. So I’m glad I was able to show them like, this is what I expect in a man, and I’m happy that this is my father showing me that he can be broken, but he didn’t give, he didn’t give those, you know what I’m saying? So I got Trinita too, she’s just an entrepreneur on everything, her designer shoes, pants, clothes, she just be doing it all, man. So, you know, and my other children with my wife, you know what I’m saying, you know, they in the sports and doing their thing and a lot of them was real young then, you know. So, you know, they still have questions, but, you know, they still are them. And I’m just, that’s why I say, I’m just glad I am able to show them that I can pick myself up. It’s just an example for us, them with life. You’re going to get knocked down, everybody get knocked down, but some people don’t come back. I’m just thankful that I was able to show them that I can keep it moving, keep it stepping.
Tell Us More About The Chosen For Change Foundation
I got a program called Chosen Fathers for national and local fathers and I take them on a retreat every year around June. If they’re having a problem, they put it in there and if they’re not in our city, we will send one of the brothers that’s in their city to assist them with whatever they’re going through on their stressful or through their pain at that time. I have another entity, it’s called Mothers of an Angel. It’s a lot of mothers here that they get in these spaces and they got someone else controlling the narrative. This space right here, we give them a platform to get it all out. We have conversations, we have therapists come in, we have events, we did some broken glasses, give them something to do to get some of that stress off of. So bro, we just moving, you know, I’m glad three years ago, I was able to get my mind into what’s going on because of all of everything that had happened. And I’m really in a place right now where I’m understanding my mission. You know, when I was trying to run from it, I’m like, I need to get out of here.
What are your goals for CFC moving forward?
The reason for starting was just to continue a legacy in his name and mine. And the goal is to build a community center.
