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The Ferguson Report: An Erasure
A meditation on our times, cast through a reconsideration of the Justice Department's investigation of the Ferguson Police Department
In August 2014, Michael Brown—a young, unarmed Black man—was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. What followed was a period of protests and turmoil, culminating in an extensive report that was filed by the Department of Justice detailing biased policing and court practices in the city. It is a document that exposes the racist policies and procedures that have become commonplace—from disproportionate arrest rates, to flagrant violence directed at the Black community. It is a report that remains as disheartening as it is damning.
Now, award-winning poet Nicole Sealey revisits the investigation in a book that redacts the report, an act of erasure that reimagines the original text as it strips it away. While the full document is visible in the background—weighing heavily on the language Sealey has preserved—it gives shape and disturbing context to what remains.
Illuminating what it means to live in this frightening age, and what it means to bear witness, The Ferguson An Erasure is an engrossing meditation on one of the most important texts of our time.
In August 2014, Michael Brown—a young, unarmed Black man—was shot to death by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. What followed was a period of protests and turmoil, culminating in an extensive report that was filed by the Department of Justice detailing biased policing and court practices in the city. It is a document that exposes the racist policies and procedures that have become commonplace—from disproportionate arrest rates, to flagrant violence directed at the Black community. It is a report that remains as disheartening as it is damning.
Now, award-winning poet Nicole Sealey revisits the investigation in a book that redacts the report, an act of erasure that reimagines the original text as it strips it away. While the full document is visible in the background—weighing heavily on the language Sealey has preserved—it gives shape and disturbing context to what remains.
Illuminating what it means to live in this frightening age, and what it means to bear witness, The Ferguson An Erasure is an engrossing meditation on one of the most important texts of our time.
- GenresPoetry
109 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 15, 2023
9 people are currently reading
428 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 10, 2023
I cannot imagine the amount of work that went into writing and creating this piece. Truly incredible.
March 14, 2024
*Stop! Hands where I can see!*
A boy pretends to prey.
...
*Stop, or I'll
shoot!* he kids. Then makes
of his hands a gun. Fires away.
...
...The animal,
out of nowhere, flees
seconds too late—a design
oversight assigned
to that particular beast.
...Approached,
the deer stiffens—a telltale sign
the conditions under which it ran
were breaking the skin. Worse,
training the mind. (!!!)
...
...Our heads twitch,
birds watching for what might
be stalking.
What is it like to be constantly preyed upon? Sealey asks us to consider this question in The Ferguson Report, which she considers a medium for "engaging with the [DOJ] report's findings," a creative outlet for the despair the report inspires.
I found myself writing a lot of the unredacted letters/words in the margin so I could follow along, not knowing she'd thoughtfully provided the "lifted poems" at the end (assembled together in this way, it was much easier to appreciate the emotional heft and craft in the unredacted passages—as I read, I wondered if there was some algorithm I couldn't discern by which she chose what to redact.)
As one proceeds through the book, it is impossible to not read some of what Sealey redacts—which is, of course, part of work she wants us to do. Indeed, after completing the book, I went back to read the portion of the report she redacts in the first two sections of the book, which include the report's summary. Many of its findings have been reported on in the media, but without the filter that comes with editorial decisions and time constraints, I found myself shocked by the report to a greater degree than I had been at its release. The report provides remarkable detail about how Ferguson's elected officials and police department pillaged and preyed upon its Black and brown residents to supplement the revenue lost by white flight; the book is a lamentation for the abuse they endured, and an indictment of their tormentors.
A boy pretends to prey.
...
*Stop, or I'll
shoot!* he kids. Then makes
of his hands a gun. Fires away.
...
...The animal,
out of nowhere, flees
seconds too late—a design
oversight assigned
to that particular beast.
...Approached,
the deer stiffens—a telltale sign
the conditions under which it ran
were breaking the skin. Worse,
training the mind. (!!!)
...
...Our heads twitch,
birds watching for what might
be stalking.
What is it like to be constantly preyed upon? Sealey asks us to consider this question in The Ferguson Report, which she considers a medium for "engaging with the [DOJ] report's findings," a creative outlet for the despair the report inspires.
I found myself writing a lot of the unredacted letters/words in the margin so I could follow along, not knowing she'd thoughtfully provided the "lifted poems" at the end (assembled together in this way, it was much easier to appreciate the emotional heft and craft in the unredacted passages—as I read, I wondered if there was some algorithm I couldn't discern by which she chose what to redact.)
As one proceeds through the book, it is impossible to not read some of what Sealey redacts—which is, of course, part of work she wants us to do. Indeed, after completing the book, I went back to read the portion of the report she redacts in the first two sections of the book, which include the report's summary. Many of its findings have been reported on in the media, but without the filter that comes with editorial decisions and time constraints, I found myself shocked by the report to a greater degree than I had been at its release. The report provides remarkable detail about how Ferguson's elected officials and police department pillaged and preyed upon its Black and brown residents to supplement the revenue lost by white flight; the book is a lamentation for the abuse they endured, and an indictment of their tormentors.
November 25, 2023
what an illuminating use of this form.
May 2, 2024
wow!!
Read
October 23, 2025not the biggest fan of erasure poetry, but i must admit the amount of skill creating this book required is impressive
January 15, 2024
I don't think I've ever read an erasure poem like this one before, in terms of scope and length.
I think all erasures invite a juxtaposition between poem and underlying text, but here the contrast was especially stark—not only in terms of the lyrical voice of the poem contrasting with the flat, legalistic voice of the government report, but also in terms of the literal contrast between the light gray erased text and the bold, dark non-erased text. I think it really underscores the mechanics of reading an erasure, of reading this specific erasure, of reading in general. How are we meant to read this poem? If we primarily engage with the poem, skimming over the report, what do we miss? If we primarily engage with the report, taking in the poem in bits and pieces, what do we miss? Can we do both? I'm not sure of the answer, or if there even is an answer.
I will say, I am somewhat in awe of the fortitude it must have required of Sealey to immerse herself in this report in order to create something new out of it.
I think all erasures invite a juxtaposition between poem and underlying text, but here the contrast was especially stark—not only in terms of the lyrical voice of the poem contrasting with the flat, legalistic voice of the government report, but also in terms of the literal contrast between the light gray erased text and the bold, dark non-erased text. I think it really underscores the mechanics of reading an erasure, of reading this specific erasure, of reading in general. How are we meant to read this poem? If we primarily engage with the poem, skimming over the report, what do we miss? If we primarily engage with the report, taking in the poem in bits and pieces, what do we miss? Can we do both? I'm not sure of the answer, or if there even is an answer.
I will say, I am somewhat in awe of the fortitude it must have required of Sealey to immerse herself in this report in order to create something new out of it.
September 11, 2023
The creativity of the way the poem was presented was stunning. It evoked a power to those already raw, and brutal words that sent chills. A heartwrenching poem that should be read by all.
September 7, 2023
Breathtaking. Creative, powerful, raw, heartbreaking work of art as author Nicole Sealey redacts/“erases” the actual Ferguson Report to create her own message and work. It’s visually stunning and evocative. I will keep this one and share with my kids.
February 11, 2025
The act of erasure is, I suppose, the ballooning of an implied space between two layers, however thin or vast. One layer is passive, constituting the "source document" and the second is active, creating the "extricated document". The act of positing the extricated document unfolds a distance that always takes the form of an active question: how far apart are the two writings?
In the act of erasure, working more paradoxically implies less presented words. Sealey, therefore, is a poet hard at work. On one hand, the more the source text is effaced, the more the first implication is one of summary. Instead, Sealey begins with a vast terrain of the source document effaced before pulling out the word "horses". What a great way to throw distances at each other! Suddenly there's an intensity of interaction between the (opening) act of imaging movement and its (supposed0 estrangement from the topic.
Sealey effortlessly bypasses numerous traps. The erased text doesn't rely on saying the subtext (thank God). Nor does it force itself 'in' as the reader's super-ego (thank fucking God).
Sealey needs the source text the way a crafted rug's fabric necessarily comes from a specific region.
Like Justin Torres' Blackouts, this made me feel deeply connected to the world, but also to critical philosophy.
In the act of erasure, working more paradoxically implies less presented words. Sealey, therefore, is a poet hard at work. On one hand, the more the source text is effaced, the more the first implication is one of summary. Instead, Sealey begins with a vast terrain of the source document effaced before pulling out the word "horses". What a great way to throw distances at each other! Suddenly there's an intensity of interaction between the (opening) act of imaging movement and its (supposed0 estrangement from the topic.
Sealey effortlessly bypasses numerous traps. The erased text doesn't rely on saying the subtext (thank God). Nor does it force itself 'in' as the reader's super-ego (thank fucking God).
Sealey needs the source text the way a crafted rug's fabric necessarily comes from a specific region.
Like Justin Torres' Blackouts, this made me feel deeply connected to the world, but also to critical philosophy.
August 31, 2024
This is a truly important contribution to modern culture. To think how much painstaking time must have gone into this— kudos to Nicole Sealey; what a treasure.
What strikes me is how easily I could have missed this. Had it not been for my interest in one of her poems (‘a violence’ which I came across in Pinsky’s anthology The Mind Has Cliffs of Fall) this would have gone completely under my radar.
And it’s not even because of the quality of the poems (all fantastic btw) but because holding this book in your hands and looking at the redacted report behind the poems, a report detailing racial bias, misappropriations, misogyny, incompetence, violence, and letting those words fade away to reveal what Sealey has done here is truly an experience.
So do me a favor: next time you go to the library or bookstore see if The Ferguson Report an erasure is in stock and even if you have no desire to buy it or read it just hold it and look at the words, flip the pages and tell me there’s not some sort of discernible power in a work like this.
What strikes me is how easily I could have missed this. Had it not been for my interest in one of her poems (‘a violence’ which I came across in Pinsky’s anthology The Mind Has Cliffs of Fall) this would have gone completely under my radar.
And it’s not even because of the quality of the poems (all fantastic btw) but because holding this book in your hands and looking at the redacted report behind the poems, a report detailing racial bias, misappropriations, misogyny, incompetence, violence, and letting those words fade away to reveal what Sealey has done here is truly an experience.
So do me a favor: next time you go to the library or bookstore see if The Ferguson Report an erasure is in stock and even if you have no desire to buy it or read it just hold it and look at the words, flip the pages and tell me there’s not some sort of discernible power in a work like this.
December 22, 2023
I just devoured this while at work.
A poem written in a dark outline between the words within the official "Ferguson Report" which is still visible in the background. As someone who moved to STL in the years following these events, and followed closely as I had friends in the city, its definitely important to hear from black voices who experienced the corruption of the Ferguson Police Department and the STLPD itself, firsthand. As this kind of corruption and police brutality is only too common within the US today, these kinds of publications are a tool of resistance. Just I think publishing a poem within the official report is incredible effective as we can still see the "brush over" of the report itself while painting a picture of the poems within the words. It's hard to describe, but completely moving.
A poem written in a dark outline between the words within the official "Ferguson Report" which is still visible in the background. As someone who moved to STL in the years following these events, and followed closely as I had friends in the city, its definitely important to hear from black voices who experienced the corruption of the Ferguson Police Department and the STLPD itself, firsthand. As this kind of corruption and police brutality is only too common within the US today, these kinds of publications are a tool of resistance. Just I think publishing a poem within the official report is incredible effective as we can still see the "brush over" of the report itself while painting a picture of the poems within the words. It's hard to describe, but completely moving.
September 7, 2023
Thank you SO much to the publisher for sending me a copy of this, because WOW. I read Ordinary Beast earlier this year and was tremendously moved. The Ferguson Report: An Erasure is even more powerful. Poetry written entirely by erasing lines of the Ferguson Report itself, this collection of poems is a must-read by everyone. These poems are raw, earnest, hopeful, and devastating all at the same time.
September 28, 2023
This book of poetry is just over 100 pages, words pieced together from the grayed out Ferguson Report, words that slap, words that will make you rage.
The Ferguson Report is the Department of Justice's investigation into the Ferguson Police Department after the death of Michael Brown - a young unarmed Black man - in 2014.
This is the first I had heard of the Ferguson Report. I did a deep dive through Google after reading this book, and though i was sickened, I wasn't surprised.
It should be required reading. I implore you to read it, then come back and read this book.
"𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺,
𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥,
𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴
𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭
𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦."
Phenomenal.
Thanks to Knopf for my gifted copy; all opinions are my own.
The Ferguson Report is the Department of Justice's investigation into the Ferguson Police Department after the death of Michael Brown - a young unarmed Black man - in 2014.
This is the first I had heard of the Ferguson Report. I did a deep dive through Google after reading this book, and though i was sickened, I wasn't surprised.
It should be required reading. I implore you to read it, then come back and read this book.
"𝘈𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺,
𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥,
𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴
𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭
𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦."
Phenomenal.
Thanks to Knopf for my gifted copy; all opinions are my own.
August 31, 2023
Day 31 of #TheSealeyChallenge 2023. The Ferguson Report: An Erasure by Nicole Sealey published by Penguin Publishing Group
@SealeyChallenge @penguinbooks @Nic_Sealey @nicolesealey
#thesealeychallenge2023 #sealeychallenge #poetry
I saved a great one for last! Thanks @Nic_Sealey @nicolesealey for a wonderful month and for such a powerful book.
Some of my favorite lines:
Into the wild go the captive born.
The forecast red, the city red.
Then the birds began to fly low and patternless, as if they were each two hands joined.
An idea came to me this morning like an honest mistake.
@SealeyChallenge @penguinbooks @Nic_Sealey @nicolesealey
#thesealeychallenge2023 #sealeychallenge #poetry
I saved a great one for last! Thanks @Nic_Sealey @nicolesealey for a wonderful month and for such a powerful book.
Some of my favorite lines:
Into the wild go the captive born.
The forecast red, the city red.
Then the birds began to fly low and patternless, as if they were each two hands joined.
An idea came to me this morning like an honest mistake.
November 12, 2023
from ix. lifted poems
In the bushes, next to the lot
across the street: a rustling
like backtalk: a deer. The animal,
out of nowhere, flees
seconds too late—a design
oversight assigned
to that particular beast.
On the police radio, a song:
a threat, a slip of tongue in an ear.
Moist as an eye. Approached,
the deer stiffens—a telltale sign
the conditions under which it ran
were breaking the skin. Worse,
training the mind. Who among us
is stunned by how fast rain
pours from the sky? Stunned
by how the sky, clear at first,
self-corrects, as if to say, "I mean
this, not that. That, not this." (111)
In the bushes, next to the lot
across the street: a rustling
like backtalk: a deer. The animal,
out of nowhere, flees
seconds too late—a design
oversight assigned
to that particular beast.
On the police radio, a song:
a threat, a slip of tongue in an ear.
Moist as an eye. Approached,
the deer stiffens—a telltale sign
the conditions under which it ran
were breaking the skin. Worse,
training the mind. Who among us
is stunned by how fast rain
pours from the sky? Stunned
by how the sky, clear at first,
self-corrects, as if to say, "I mean
this, not that. That, not this." (111)
January 3, 2024
Sealey redacts/erases transcripts of the official Ferguson Report in order to engage more fully with its contents and create this body of poetry. The visuals are stunning and the messages are haunting. Beautifully done!
What a powerful visual to have the full Ferguson Report on page and see the author pull the words directly from the source.
... use-of-force. Force
of habit. Of nature. Force
feed. Force down. Force
his hand. Force in line.
Full force. By force. Show
of force. Brute force. Blunt
force to be reckoned with.
Force a smile. As law
enforcement turns out
in force. To force
open your door...
What a powerful visual to have the full Ferguson Report on page and see the author pull the words directly from the source.
... use-of-force. Force
of habit. Of nature. Force
feed. Force down. Force
his hand. Force in line.
Full force. By force. Show
of force. Brute force. Blunt
force to be reckoned with.
Force a smile. As law
enforcement turns out
in force. To force
open your door...
August 1, 2024
The Ferguson Report: An Erasure, is just as it sounds. Something a bit different that I appreciate is that she leaves the original report in light gray text, with strikeouts. This does a few things:
1. Provides more context.
2. Creates more visual noise, which sort of forces one to pay more attention, and seems to mimic the "noise" of the reporting around Ferguson.
At the end of the book, the poems are "lifted" and presented in a more traditional-appearing format. I like that as well.
This is a collection a person can spend time with. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but I really appreciate this collection on both a technical level and an emotional/meaning level.
1. Provides more context.
2. Creates more visual noise, which sort of forces one to pay more attention, and seems to mimic the "noise" of the reporting around Ferguson.
At the end of the book, the poems are "lifted" and presented in a more traditional-appearing format. I like that as well.
This is a collection a person can spend time with. I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical at first, but I really appreciate this collection on both a technical level and an emotional/meaning level.
January 10, 2024
I guess my main problem with this book is that it feels unfinished. I felt like the author could have played with the form with the retractions and switched from simplistic cross-outs to full-on black blocks out of redacting the report to give those singled-out words more of an emboldening message. I would have also liked at the end of each part of the retraction to connect the words and even make historical connections with the words that the author gathered from the Ferguson Report. Overall, an intriguing idea that feels unfinished.
June 14, 2024
Unbearably powerful work of erasure. I’m stunned.
On a humeros note: I would often joke with my friend who is a book seller about the pains of buying a slim book of poetry or a book of short stories artfully filling fractions of pages. The cost per word! The cost of blank space! This isn’t what I meant about word economy! This work is a devastating rebuttal. It contains fewer words than even the number of words literally printed on the page. I was wonderfully wrong, and I would recommend that everyone buy this.
On a humeros note: I would often joke with my friend who is a book seller about the pains of buying a slim book of poetry or a book of short stories artfully filling fractions of pages. The cost per word! The cost of blank space! This isn’t what I meant about word economy! This work is a devastating rebuttal. It contains fewer words than even the number of words literally printed on the page. I was wonderfully wrong, and I would recommend that everyone buy this.
December 28, 2023
3½. Some moving, stealthily complex poems are wrung from the source material, but the specificity of language doesn't necessarily justify its use. Particularly given the ratio of excised material, this falls squarely into "pure conceit" territory for me, failing to do enough with the existing language to justify this format. Thematically, it's a better fit, but the whole thing feels more like a hook to ensure attention is paid than a genuinely organic engagement with the charged original text.
May 4, 2024
This is the first time I've read a collection based entirely on erasure poetry. At times, the concept can be confusing, but I recognise the symbolism, particularly in this book, of reimagining the 'facts' as we know them, or as we instructed to know them. Nicole Sealey does a wonderful job of bringing to life the hidden message in the Ferguson Report, and it has definitely opened my eyes to the hidden or alternative messages that abound on the pages of 'fact'.
February 15, 2025
First time reading an erasure poem and it was an interesting experience. The poems were beautiful, but you had to put it all together while you read through the marked out Ferguson report. The power of erasure poem is enhanced or magnified by the juxtaposition of the original text. These poems about the nature of living as a black person contrasted against the Ferguson reports was so powerful. At the end of the book, all the poems through the book are written out clearly, which I appreciated
October 6, 2023
I really loved this collection of poetry. It is brilliant in both form and content. The book took me by surprise in its form. The content educated me and invited me to see something I hadn’t seen before. The author takes the papers filed by the Department of Justice on the policing in Ferguson and mines words and letters to create poetry. Beautiful.
December 1, 2023
this book is an amazing piece of writing, the time and effort it must have taken to put together would have been enormous.
the erasure poems with the inclusion of the lifted poems are hugely powerful and engaging reading.
i did struggle a little to piece together some of the words when individuals letters were used, in the erasure poems.
the erasure poems with the inclusion of the lifted poems are hugely powerful and engaging reading.
i did struggle a little to piece together some of the words when individuals letters were used, in the erasure poems.
December 29, 2023
“What’s an answer to black, I wonder?”
Unwavering and profound and heartbreaking. An erasure, yet so much revealed. I will revisit this collection again and again. Only reading this once through is a disservice.
Unwavering and profound and heartbreaking. An erasure, yet so much revealed. I will revisit this collection again and again. Only reading this once through is a disservice.
December 31, 2023
what i love most about this book is how it uses erasure/redaction to slow the reader down. it really forced me to sit with the book longer than i maybe would’ve like. sealey is a genius of course, but this book is truly on a whole other level.
January 9, 2024
Force/ of habit. Of nature/ Force/ feed. Force down. Force/ his hand. Force in line./ Full force. By force. Show/ of force. Brute force. Blunt/ force to be reckoned with./ Force a smile. As law/ enforcement turns out/ in force. To force/ open your door.
June 11, 2025
what can you even say... this makes me think about the power of long form erasure, especially for communities who's stories have been systemically erased... what is gained from speaking from the margin?
August 23, 2023
2023 Sealey Challenge 22/31
September 28, 2023
To find words to create a message out of such a horrible event. My first reaction was to tear up because words are powerful in the midst of such contradictions.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews