Hiding in Plain Sight: The Invention of Donald Trump and the Erosion of America

by Sarah Kendzior

In 2016, a locally well-known Ferguson protester, Darren Seals, wrote in a Facebook post: “Black death is a business. Millions and millions flowing through the hands of these organizations in the name of Mike Brown yet we don’t see any of it coming into our community or being used to help our youth. I’ve been calling out this shit for months. People see this as an opportunity to not only build a name but make bank at the expense of the lives of people like me.”22 Seals complained about how out-of-town NGOs and online celebrities associated with Black Lives Matter had gained attention off the Ferguson brand, used that attention to raise money, and then left with the resources meant to help St. Louis—a slight St. Louis regional activists, who had suffered severe psychological and economic hardship as a result of the protests, never forgot, as it devastated their community even further. Soon after his post, Seals was shot to death in his car, which was then set on fire. His murderer was never found. But his killing set off another Ferguson media frenzy, and the media Seals derided for their apathy toward the plight of black men created clickbait from his death. When I look back at Ferguson now, I look back not only at Brown, who I did not know, but at dead friends and acquaintances like Seals. I look back at protesters who died due to the common reasons people die young in St. Louis: murder, denial of health care, self-medication through drugs—and whose conditions were made w...