Barclays Center rally honors Michael Brown

Outrage over the deaths of Brown and a series of other black Americans at the hands of police in the past year has been channelled into a sustained nationwide movement with the social media hashtag #Blacklivesmatter becoming its rallying cry across the country.

President Barack Obama meanwhile dismissed criticism that he had been too reluctant to tackle issues of race early in his tenure as America’s first African-American president.

A march to mark the anniversary of the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown has ended in Ferguson, Missouri.

A grand jury and the US Department of Justice declined to prosecute Wilson, who resigned last November.

Later Sunday, a few hundred people turned out at Greater St. Mark Family Church for a service to remember Brown, with his father joining other relatives sitting behind the pulpit. “There’s a level of fear on my part, so this experience for them, being here, is even more important than it is for me or my wife”.

Brown said the anniversary brings back all of the grief and raw emotions, but that it’s important to continue standing up to concerns about police brutality and the use of force.

In New York, about 100 protesters in the borough of Brooklyn lay on the ground on Sunday for four-and-a-half minutes minutes to mark Brown’s death. However in a separate report, the Justice Division cited racial bias and profiling in policing in addition to a profit-driven municipal courtroom system that always focused black residents, who make up about two-thirds of Ferguson’s populace.

Some people in the parade wore T-shirts with likenesses of Brown or messages such as “Hands up!” Otherwise, the crowd was peaceful.

But the protests themselves unfolded without major incident, as police stayed largely behind barricades and on the fringes.

Darius Simpson, 22, made the trip to Ferguson from Eastern Michigan University for the weekend and was in the parade.

The Reverend Osagyefo Sekou, from the Ferguson Action Council, told the BBC that last year’s events had led to some positive change in the black community but not in society at large.

On Sunday, which marked one year since Brown’s death, the town was the site of quiet commemoration.

“I think there’s a resurgence in energy and attention, anger and just feeling let down by all political actors”, said Joel Solow.

Taylor’s brother Joshua (23) said the family wanted details of what happened, calling the information from the police “blurry”. “It’s important for him to know he has a voice”.

Though the protests have been largely subdued in the course of the day, they picked up after darkish as a whole lot marched outdoors Ferguson’s police division on Saturday night time, mocking the handful of officers who stood watch.