(TriceEdneyWire.com) - Washington DC just lost an icon.  In the early morning hours of November 23, DC’s Mayor for Life succumbed to some of the health challenges that have plagued him for several years.  Even in ill health he was, as he had been all his life, an icon to the people, especially those in the poorest part of the city.  Annually he distributed turkeys to the poor.  More importantly he pushed legislation that would not punish felons when they applied for jobs.  Barry had a knack for championing for the least and the left out, the youth and the seniors, the homeless and the hungry.  There are few politicians who are as consistent in their focus as Marion Barry.

Barry was also the architect of DC’s economic development, making city contracts available to minority businesses – that just needed a chance so they could thrive.  Of course, he is rarely acknowledged for his role in DC’s economic development, although it has been one of his key accomplishments.  Barry’s brilliance is also frequently unacknowledged.  He was a dissertation away from a doctorate in chemistry when he joined the civil rights movement.  That accomplishment was additionally exceptional given Mr. Barry’s impoverished background.  His parents picked cotton for a living and few expected him to rise the heights that he did.

Marion Barry mentored countless young men, embracing the concept “each one teach one”.  Their association with him transformed dozens of young men.  His summer youth program hired any youngster who needed a job – in the private sector or in the public sector.  Even today, people credit Barry with helping them secure their job.

It’s an awkward transition to move from Marion Barry to Ferguson, but the violent response to the fact that Darren Wilson would not be indicted reminds me of the Langston Hughes poem:

Young people all over the country are justifiably angry at the fact that Darren Wilson was not indicted.  The explosion of violence in Ferguson, however, is unacceptable.  Black businesses were destroyed along with others, because people were indiscriminately destructive.

At the same time, protestors were set up. Choosing to announce that Wilson would not be indicted until 8 o’clock in the evening was a tactic.  It is also as if Robert McCulloch set protestors up.  Why not release the results the next morning?  Emotion had reached a peak by 8 p.m.  Why throw fuel on an angry fire?

It is also interesting that many are convinced that McCulloch did not aggressively push to indict Wilson because he didn’t want to.  One witness said that he turned her words around during his examination of her.  That suggests that he treated his own witnesses as hostile.  Meanwhile his apparent tepid examination advantaged him.  Lawyers say that prosecution can indict “a ham sandwich”.  Not McCulloch.

What would Marion Barry say?  Give them some jobs; make them put some skin in the game?  Send them to school and engage them in the system.  Michael was about to go to school when he was brutally shot by Darren Wilson.

Even if Michael Brown had stolen some cigars, he didn’t have to die because he stole.  At least eight bullets riddled his body about a dozen were fired.  Darren Wilson says he was doing his job, and the grand jury believed him.  However, there is a way to hit Ferguson without resorting to violence. Why not organize a boycott of Ferguson and its surrounding areas by reusing to buy there? Why not boycott just one store; until changes were made. Its CEO would be calling the police chief, the mayor, or perhaps the governor to make needed changes in “law enforcement.”

Julianne Malveaux is an author and economist based in Washington, DC