Ferguson activist raised in the Black Church showed pastors how to aid young protesters

Brittany Packnett is one of her generation's best-known racial justice activists.

Her late father, the Rev. Ronald , was senior pastor of St. Louis ’ historic Central Baptist Church .

He was part of a new generation of progressive preachers who began thinking theologically about the social situation of the 1980s .

Brittany 's rise reflects the promise and power of her late father's ministry.

Rev. Traci Blackmon : "We didn't know them and they didn’t know us, and that breakdown was on us as clergy" Long before Brown was killed, Missourians lynched 60 people, the most lynchings from 1877-1950 , author says.

Blackmon was among a handful of clergy who made it onto the Ferguson Commission , appointed by then-Gov. Jay Nixon .

This story is part of an AP ongoing series exploring the impact, legacy and ripples of what is widely called the “ Ferguson uprising,” which has sparked nationwide outcries over police violence and calls for broader solutions to entrenched racial injustices. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP ’s collaboration with The Conversation US , with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content..