Yvette Nicole Brown
speaker
74 appearances
2 recordings
2 series
first heard Jan 2025
last heard Jun 2025
Yvette Nicole Brown’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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Appearances
That attention followed Leslie on social media, too. Strangers even posted false statements about Leslie's parenting. She remembers that all of the disrespect and hate started right away.
The hate and disrespect came at Leslie from all angles. Everything from lies intended to harm Mike's reputation to criticism of Leslie's hair color. That's right, her hair color.
Belinda, Leslie's longtime friend and co-worker at Straub's, remembers feeling protective of Leslie.
Away from the cameras, Leslie was doing everything she could to stay strong for her family, for Mike's three younger siblings, and for her husband, Louis. But at night, in her grief, she'd lay in the doorway of her bedroom waiting to feel Mike's presence.
That night was a turning point for Leslie.
She was in the fight. And as she witnessed more of the protesting happening in Ferguson and around the world, the cause became clearer.
The biggest protests were yet to come. On November 24, 2014, the grand jury would announce whether the officer who killed Mike would be indicted. Leading up to that day, there were conflicting stories circulating. Neighbors who saw the shooting said Mike had his hands up at the time he was murdered. Meanwhile, the online smear campaign ramped up.
It contradicted those accounts, with people saying that Mike never had his hands up and that he had acted aggressively. Ferguson police also painted Mike as a criminal. They released security footage purporting to show Mike and his friend stealing from a convenience store on August 9th.
With the video's release, they shifted public attention away from both the officer that murdered Mike and the ongoing police violence against protesters. Despite everything, Leslie and the protesters held on to hope that the truth of what happened would lead to real justice. They had this hope because President Barack Obama made a statement of support. And Eric Holder, the first Black U.S.
Attorney General, met with Mike's family personally.
It all made Leslie feel like this case mattered to the country and to the people in charge. That night, Leslie and her family gathered in a hotel room holding hands in prayer. Then the news came. The St. Louis County prosecutor, Bob McCullough, announced that the grand jury decided not to indict after all.
Protests flared that night, and Leslie and her husband Louis joined people in the streets. In a cell phone video, you can see them, surrounded by the crowd. In response to the lack of indictment, Leslie sobbed and exclaimed, they don't care. Next to her, Louis was angry at the injustice, and he expressed it as well. The media chose to fixate on Leslie and Lewis's reactions.
When crowds that night burned buildings, looted businesses, and clashed with police, they were unfairly blamed and held responsible for the most destructive actions of the protesters.
What Lewis recognized was something deeper than one night. It was long, simmering pain extending far beyond Ferguson's borders, across the country.
All of the family members in that chain were hit hard with heartbreak. And though Leslie was awash in her own grief, she felt the weight of everyone else's too.
It was especially difficult for Mike's younger siblings, Deja, Andre, and Jasmine. In those days, Leslie advised her kids to stay close to the house because she feared for their safety. Family members like Kiki saw how tough this was for them.
Mike's little brother Andre was also processing everything in his own way. Even though he was only nine years old, he has a clear memory of his first day back at school that fall.
The kindness from his teacher made a big impact on Andre, but those big feelings he was having, he said he had to tamp those down to get through each day, becoming quieter and more reserved.
The effects of Mike Mike's death spread throughout the family, hitting Leslie's cousin Eric especially hard. He and his kids had been very close with Mike.
After Mike's murder, Eric took time off of work to support Leslie. He remembers the disbelief he felt at that time.
Showing 41–60 of 74 · page 3 of 4
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