The Run For Justice

A steady rain fell on the Canfield Apartment complex in Ferguson Sunday afternoon. Between the Sabbath day bookends of church and football, a new paragraph in the protests surrounding the death of the unarmed teenager the world has come to know was being witnessed. A slender young man in running gear eased through the drizzle and made his way to the memorial for Michael Brown. Atlanta is 540 miles from Ferguson. It is a manageable trip by most standards whether driving or flying. But, Londrelle Hall ran one long mile at a time in memory of Michael Brown. “I didn’t really think about it until I had run the first 30 miles, and then I thought ‘what have I gotten myself into’?” the 25 year-old said in a quiet but serious voice. Hall left Atlanta on November 3 to begin what he called a run for justice. He remembered how grateful he was to finish the first day. “My feet were killing me. I had bruises on my feet, and I couldn’t really walk.” He checked into a hotel that night as planned and the next morning laced up his running shoes and hit the road again. He was dedicated to his mission because “the universe was on my side, and my body healed quickly.” The fatal shooting of Michael Brown by white police officer Darren Wilson is a tragically sobering reminder that for Black Americans, young men in particular, what happened in Ferguson can happen in any city. All around the country there have been demonstrations of solidarity with the protesters in the small St. Louis suburb that has laid claim to the global community’s conscience for more than three months. Hall personalized his dismay with a video and a long-distance run. In the video his voice is clear and resolute, reciting a pledge for the revolution. “I felt the need for us to stand up for each other,” the 25 year-old stated. Hall graduated with a communications degree from Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida. His high school and college years were not dominated by athletics, and at 5’7″ and 140 pounds, he  quickly pointed out his running resume only included jogs along the beach. Hall trained for the run to Ferguson and said that “I got to know myself better. It was liberating, and I felt free. I had time to clear my head.” Like many African-Americans, Hall wanted to clear his mind of the litany of unarmed black men killed by white police officers: Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York City, and Charles Smith in Savannah, Georgia. He added, “We don’t see the value of Black life until another race kills one of us. That’s when we realize how valuable our lives are.” The sound of his feet reverberated with purpose along the interstates he ran. It helped Hall stay focused. A cameraman followed to film the run for review, and a friend jogged alongside. When the trip started, the weather was warm but an arctic blast sidelined Hall in Tennessee last week, forcing him to delay the run for a day. It was a welcome break. “I didn’t have a chance to sweat because it was so cold,” laughed Hall. Yet, he pressed on toward Ferguson and arrived as planned on Sunday in advance of the grand jury’s decision whether to indict Wilson. He paused at the Michael Brown memorial, the one that rose up in the very spot the unarmed teenager took his final breaths. Hall took a deep breath, tired from running…and like many others, weary from fighting.

The next day the young entrepreneur laced up his running shoes and hit the road again. Hall is dedicated to his mission because “I have the universe on my side, and my body heals quickly.”