Missourinet

McSpadden hugs NAACP national president Cornell Brooks

The NAACP Journey for Justice March culminated in a series of fiery speeches to a crowd of about 500 inside the Missouri State Capitol today.

Michael Brown’s mother, Lesley McSpadden,  had a quieter tone when she spoke briefly to the rally crowd inside the Capitol’s main rotunda.

Teenager Michael Brown died after a scuffle with Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. Wilson was not indicted after a grand jury heard the county prosecutor team’s argument behind closed doors.

The NAACP and its supporters in Missouri mounted the 7-day march to move the attention from the shooting, to the seat of government and the hopes that new laws and regulations will help ease increasing racial tensions.

The tone of today’s invocation, however, revealed plenty of underlying distrust.

“We need the lawmakers to hear us God,” said the prayer leader. “We need Governor Nixon to hear and understand our collective cries. We need Eric Holder to hear and understand our collective cries. [Prosecutor] Bob McCulloch was not listening, God, so we’ll ask you to deal with that…we need you right now,” prayed the Reverend Cassandra Adams of Quinn Chapel AME church.

Governor Nixon did not attend or address the rally. Maida Coleman, a former state senator and director of the newly-formed Missouri Office of Community Engagement observed the rally but declined the invitation to speak.