On 10th anniversary, Cedric visits Ferguson

Cedric the Entertainer will turn into Cedric the journalist, for a CBS special.
He’ll offer a personal perspective on the unrest (shown here) in Ferguson, Mo. That will air at 10 p.m. Aug. 9, the 10th anniversary of a shooting that spurred national debate.
Cedric, 60, is known for humor. On CBS, he stars in “The Neighborhood” (8 p.m. Mondays) and hosts the “Greatest @Home Videos” specials; elsewhere, he starred in the “Barbershop” movie and “Soul Man” cable series.
He grew up (as Cedric Kyles) in a small Mississippi River town, with a mother who was a teacher and a father who worked for the railroad. He spent his high school years in a St. Louis suburb near Ferguson.
The crisis began on Aug. 9, 2014, when an unarmed Black teenager (Michael Brown, 18) was shot and killed by a policeman. In the two weeks afterward, there were heated discussions of the shooting and of the police’s militarized approach to protesters.
Assigned to defuse the situation was Ron Johnson, a Black man and a State Police captain with ties to the community. He’s a longtime friend of Cedric.
Now the two men will present “13 Days in Ferguson,” walking through the community and sharing their memories. The hour will also include Johnson’s first sit-down discussion with the victim’s father, Michael Brown Sr.