Overall, “Antigone in Ferguson” held a lot of sentiment and provoked a lot of thoughts on race and injustice. The play captured the frustration and suffering of Michael Brown’s death and helped me better realize the importance of the black lives matter movement. I admit that I knew very little of the unrest in Ferguson. I had heard about it on the news and I used to think that the riots and anger were an over-reaction. I now think otherwise for a variety of reasons. First of all, the system in Ferguson had inherent racial tension. The police force population did not reflect the large black communities in the area. The culture of the city fostered distrust between the people and the law enforcers as a result. I now believe that Michael Brown was the victim of the lack of understanding between the black community and largely non-black police force. All it took was one confrontation at the wrong time/place for an ugly mess that plagued Ferguson.

Man-made law cannot always dictate the right course of action, which history has proven. The role of religion (Christianity through the gospel choir and the citing of Greek gods) in the play also resonated with me. Although Creon considered Polynices a criminal, I found it admirable that Antigone cited divine law to defend the burial of her brother. She defends moral righteousness over legal correctness. Divine law for Antigone mentioned in the play, parallels Christian law for black Americans. The gospel choir paced throughout the play filled me with a sense of hope and guidance.
Who are we as imperfect humans to say what is right or wrong? Too often, callousness and excessive pride lead to tragedy. The disregard towards Michael Brown’s body, and the fatal confrontations between police and civilians testify to the need for the BLM movement, paving way for further misunderstanding. Ultimately, human empathy bridges the differences between us.