You read about the marvelous Misha Marshall in the Light just before the end of the year. Now you can meet her and the young writer who brought you her story at a Zoom forum 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 24.

Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson’s 63106 Project and Cultural Leadership will host the virtual forum to discuss the pandemic’s impact on Misha and her family, who are living in one of St. Louis’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.

Misha is an essential worker living with three generations of her family in ZIP code 63106, the community identified in a landmark study as having the region’s most problematic social determinants of health. She will be joined by Leyla Fern King, a Cultural Leadership alum, who wrote about the Marshall family for the Light and the St. Louis American.

Before Ferguson Beyond Ferguson is a non-profit racial equity storytelling project that produces stories for St. Louis media about the struggles families of color have faced over generations in realizing the American Dream. 

Cultural Leadership is a St. Louis nonprofit dedicated to educating and training youth leaders to stand up, speak out, and take action against injustices through the African American and Jewish experiences. 

Misha will talk about the challenges she faced growing up and later caring for her family in the 63106 neighborhood. 

Leyla Fern will speak about her experience getting to know Misha and sharing her story with a diverse audience. 

Dick Weiss, founder of the 63106 project and member of Central Reform Congregation, will also participate. The forum will be moderated by Kaylan Holloway, who grew up in north St. Louis, and is now an award-winning educator and vice principal at Metro Academic and Classical High School. The session is free, but you need to register at https://tinyurl.com/project63106.