political leadership not focused on that parasitic patronage army is no leadership at all!

Governing

NYTimes |  Night after night the streets have attracted disparate groups, some from within Ferguson, and some from hundreds of miles away. As demonstrators gather each evening, it is not unusual to see some people carrying handguns while only a block away parents push their toddlers in strollers. Neither the peaceful protesters nor the hotheaded elements appear to have any direction or a unified leadership.

Many of those on the street say they have shrugged off guidance from elders in the African-American establishment, and even from the Brown family, which has repeatedly pleaded for calm.

One protester, DeVone Cruesoe, of the St. Louis area, standing on Canfield Drive last week said, “Do we have a leader? No.” Pointing to the spot where Mr. Brown was killed, he said, “You want to know who our leader is? Mike Brown.” 

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson arrived at the protest on Friday night. “People were so warm,” he said. “It was that kind of celebration.”

But he said on Saturday morning that the violent tone of the protest reflected anger over police tactics. Ferguson, he said, is “a metaphor for urban America,” where many minorities and poor whites lack access to jobs, transportation and health care. 

Many African-American civic leaders in St. Louis said they were frustrated by their inability to guide the protesters. 

At an emotional meeting at a church on Thursday, clergy members despaired over the seemingly uncontrollable nature of the protest movement and the flare-ups of violence that older people in the group abhorred. 

“We had the so-called power brokers here on Tuesday,” said the Rev. Robert C. Scott, pastor of Central Baptist Church in St. Louis, referring to a meeting earlier in the week. “Nothing has changed. It has exacerbated. We should not be on the news looking like Iraq or Beirut.” 

Derrick Robbins, another pastor in attendance, said there had been no negotiations between the police and protesters. 

“Everybody’s trying to be a leader, but it’s not working,” he said. “I wish we could come together and have a unified front. That is not happening.”

Some people have suggested that there is a generational divide. George Richardson, who works for the building department in East St. Louis, said the younger protesters were acting independently, ignoring advice from their parents.