An Open Letter to The Parents of Michael Brown

I realize losing a child is never easy, regardless of circumstance. Believe me, my parents lost their son to a terminal illness when he was thirteen.

Time does not heal all wounds, but time does offer a bit of clarity in our thought process. I hope and pray that a sense of clarity is able to fall upon you, once the trauma surrounding the recent events have subsided and that you will realize the timeline and forensic evidence tell the story, and not the bystanders who have fabricated details that do not support that evidence.

In an interview with both of you, this morning, Mr. Brown asked “Why? Why did you choose to wake up with a chip on your shoulder and do what you did to our son?”

Look at the image captured from the surveillance video, moments before the fatal event and tell me – Who had the chip on their shoulder?

Do you NOT realize that at THAT very moment, when your son was strong-arming a convenience store clerk and stealing, Officer Wilson was at the side of a young mother and her 2-year-old, who was having trouble breathing?

Psychology 101 would tell us that a person cannot go from assisting and perhaps saving one life, to carrying out a grudge, and take another life, in a matter of minutes.

Psychology 101 also supports that when a person is in a “bullying” frame of thought, they don't instantly, go from being an aggressor to being a victim.

There were an abundance of “witnesses” who provided their own versions of the events, and while some accounts did not support solid, forensic evidence, others did.

Forensic evidence does not lie! And when there are witness accounts that coincide with forensics, you can be certain you have found the TRUTH.

Perhaps you struggle with the fact that your son was caught on camera, bullying someone much smaller than him. Perhaps you struggle with the fact that your son would steal, for the sake of stealing.

Your son, albeit a teenager, was old enough to know right from wrong. He knew what he did in that convenience store was wrong. The Psychological effect of having just bullied someone and won – more than likely, carried over onto the street where he felt powerful and was not about to give in to any type of authority figure. It. Just. Makes. Sense!

When the events began to unfold on the news, I vowed to refrain from an opinion until forensic evidence was revealed. In all my 47 years, I have learned to believe half what you see, and none of what you hear. I require solid proof that is supported by FACT before I establish an opinion!

Fact is, your son was in an aggressive mindset and it cost him his life.

If you are looking for a real legacy to attribute to the name of your son – why not focus on the next generation. Teach young kids the lessons that were obviously overlooked by your son.

This is not a case of black versus white – this is a case of a generation of young adults and teenagers who challenge authority and suffer from an inflated sense of entitlement. Period!

It is NEVER justified to take what does not belong to you.

It is NEVER justified to challenge those in a position of authority.

It is NEVER justified to destroy the property and lives of others.

There is nothing that can be said or done to bring your son back. There can never be a do-over, but you can make a choice now to create a legacy for your son, to save other children from the same path.

My thoughts and prayers will continue to be with you, that you will eventually acknowledge the truth as supported by evidence alone – and not the words of others who have nothing more than a selfish agenda in this whole matter.