One step forward, two steps back.

That is the story of St. Louis five years after Ferguson.

There is tangible progress on addressing the original sin that has always divided the region: the election of Wesley Bell as St. Louis County prosecuting attorney; a civilian review board for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department; the passage of a tax to fund initial steps of a north-south transit line (though the money sits in an account unspent); and literally thousands of one-on-one conversations throughout the region helping to raise awareness of racial equity issues.

St. Louis is poised, Dwight believes, to build on what it has learned.

“There is a huge opportunity for St. Louis to be a national model for how to confront these issues and come out stronger for it,” he says.

But the next steps will be bumpy.