When most envision a suburban neighborhood in the United States, they probably picture a small town with peaceful and quiet streets. But in the case of the city of Ferguson, MI, that picturesque ideal couldn’t be further from the truth. Plumes of smoke curl through the air, sending protesters running. Screams, both in anger and fear, echo across the street. They chant in unison, holding signs and shaking their fists. “Hands up, don’t shoot.”

The very people who had sworn to protect are now hurling cannisters of blinding tear gas, decked out in military gear that would seem more in place on a battlefield. Ferguson has become a war zone.

The chaos began Aug. 9. 18-year-old Michael Brown was walking down the street with a friend when he was approached allegedly by a police officer and, after an undetermined altercation, was shot seven times.

An autopsy conducted by Dr. Michael M. Baden, the former chief medical examiner for the City of New York, reported that “[Mike Brown] was shot at least six times, including twice in the head…One of the bullets entered the top of Mr. Brown’s skull, suggesting his head was bent forward when it struck him and caused a fatal injury”.

Baden’s report also concluded that the shots were most likely fired from several feet away, citing the lack of gunpowder found on Brown’s body. The autopsy lines up with the reports of many witnesses: that Michael Brown was unarmed and in surrender when he was killed.

In the days and weeks after Brown’s death, we watched an unfortunately familiar story play out through the news reports and social networking buzz. The media ran stories emphasizing his size, ripping apart his music tastes as “violent” and publishing pictures depicting him staring sullenly into the camera.

They took the memory of a murdered child and tarnished it with irrelevant details about his life: a toxicology report claiming that Brown had marijuana in his system and a shoplifting incident that many are now claiming was completely unrelated.

Brown was dehumanized to the point where some even began to try and justify his murder. Family and friends desperately tried to defend him pointing out that he did well in school, was known as a gentle boy, one who hoped to go to college.

Following the shooting, protesters took to the streets. The demonstrations started out peacefully, until, seemingly without provocation, the police turned this Missouri suburb into a battlefield. Tear gas and rubber bullets rained down upon the citizens.

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, a former military member and CNN news anchor, he said, “In the military we’re trained on something called escalation of force which basically means the only time that you’re really going to point a weapon directly at someone is when you’re ready to pull the trigger. Instead of that we’ve seen in Ferguson that police are just walking around with their weapons up at all times at people that obviously posed no threat.”

To many, the issues in Ferguson are no longer a concern. As the riots faded, so have social media responses. The anger over Michael Brown’s killer going free is beginning to slip away. Some may believe that Ferguson was an isolated incident, an unfortunate occurrence that will soon be forgotten. Some even grow sick of hearing about it.

But if racism is something that you are, by now, so sick of hearing about, then imagine what it would be like if you had to experience it every day?

Incidents such as this are occurring more and more. And the more I hear, the more I wonder how long it will be before law enforcement decides that everybody scares them. Will people care then? If it was your brothers and sisters getting gunned down in the streets? Or if it was you?

Please do not forget about Michael Brown. Do not forget how the media tried to cover up his murder, justifying the attack and dehumanizing him. Do not forget how peaceful protests were viciously attacked and painted as savage riots, while in reality only a small portion of the protesters took part in looting.

Do not forget that small town police officers were armed with military grade weapons and given free reign to terrorize and arrest innocent citizens and journalists. Do not forget that, even now, as the hype is beginning to fade, that police officer Darren Wilson is walking free, and on paid leave.

Wilson was awarded more than $400,000 in donations for the murder of a child. Do not forget that this policing system, first put up to defend us, now exists to control us.

Do not forget what happened in Ferguson.