Presenting Marsita Ferguson

Ms. Marsita Ferguson is the founder of Black Lives Matter Lake County, where she uses her platform to spread awareness about discrimination, harassment, oppression, and other issues toward the black community. From working in her roles as the founder of Black Lives Matter Lake County and Shades of Success, to being an Executive Board Member of the Lake County Branch NAACP Youth Council (for about 4-5 years), Ferguson has been able to bring about change in a variety of different ways.

​As an Executive Board Member of the Lake County Branch NAACP Youth Council, Ferguson worked specifically with the youth, taking them to leadership centers and even teaching them soft skills.

“I think that’s where some of the work lies,” Ferguson said. “Most of the work lies in us developing our youth, to shift the mind of culture, to make things different for the next generation of people.”

Ferguson is also on the Board of The United Way, where she develops methods to effectuate ways to give back to the community.

Ferguson is one of the many active community members on the Begin the Conversation Committee, which helps to develop conversations about race within the community.

“It's really a relationship building opportunity to get people to understand that the hope moving forward is to have real conversations for people who are in these leadership positions,” Ferguson said. “They don’t know, and until they start to develop relationships with the people that they don’t know, they won’t be able to understand when they are making decisions for the culture, and for that community.”

From participating in rewriting the de-escalation training for the State of Ohio, as a Subject Matter Expert for the State of Ohio and Cultural Insensitivity, to verbalizing what services are specifically offered to the community, as the Manager of Probation Services for the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, Ferguson has demonstrated her commitment to being a voice for her community.

During the interview, Ferguson spoke about tokenism (she referred to herself as a token black woman), and expressed the importance of getting more voices at the table.

“It's very important because I only represent 150,000 black people out of 35,000,000,” Ferguson said. “We really have to get to that 30% of marginalizing minority voices at the table, so that they feel comfortable, and that we represent a holistic view of what our culture looks like.”

Ferguson also spoke about how Black Lives Matter Lake County, which is not affiliated with the national organization or other chapters, has very progressive programs.

Black Lives Matter Lake County’s other programs include Black Minds Matter, Black Mentors Matter, Financial Freedom Fighters, and an upcoming program called Chucks and Pearls.

“I think that it's very important to have your grass roots, because you know what your community needs,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson expressed that the everyday oppression that African Americans face will not change until there are more people of color in the forefront of the decisions being made. Although there was not a specific issue in particular which inspired her to get involved, Ferguson’s inspiration for generating change derived from young African American children.

“I will say that the inspiration comes from young black kids,” Ferguson said. “Something has to change because I don't want them to have to live the life that I had to live as a black person in this country.”

Ferguson’s “don’t talk about it, be about it” persona has (in a variety of different ways) been the spark which ignited a whirlwind of change, both in and out of her community. It is because of inspirational people like Ms. Marsita Ferguson, who is helping to make the world a better place, that we can hope to see a better tomorrow.

“I’m only doing what God gave me the ability to do, and I guess that’s just my part to do,” Ferguson said. “This is the part that God gave me to play, I’m only playing it like he told me to.”

Black Lives Matter Lake County’s Juneteenth Street Fair Celebration will be happening Saturday, June 19! For more information and to learn more about how you can get involved, visit https://blacklivesmatterlakecounty.com/ . ​