Last week, I had the privilege of speaking on critical communication issues at the national 3CMA conference in my hometown of Minneapolis. 3CMA – the City-County Communications & Marketing Association — are those fine folks who help our cities and counties communicate with the public and market their cities as great places to live, work and play. All-in-all, a wonderful conference that got me to thinking about how we perceive the places we call home and how public relations, marketing and the media play a central role in shaping our perceptions of the places we call home. And, more importantly, I began to think: how can we use public relations and marketing to reshape the perceptions of our cities and towns, fix what ails us and make our democracy stronger and more vibrant?

So, let’s start with this: Say the word ‘Ferguson’ and what is the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are you might think the shooting death of an unarmed teenager or some rather unpleasant rioting, looting and mayhem. Chances are your perceptions today are not favorable.

Now say the word ‘Boston’ and what is the first thing that comes to mind? Again, after saying Red Sox or Tea Party, you may say something like marathon, marathon bombing, and then perhaps Strong. Boston Strong. Chances are your perceptions today are favorable.

So, what do these two cities, one a large, prominent city of America’s original revolution, and one a sleepy burg on the outskirts of America’s gateway city have in common? Let’s hope they have more in common than one might think and that by thinking through these commonalities, applying some public relations strategies and working through some really, really tough issues, we can help foster America’s next revolution, a revolution shown not in a black-and-white worldview but in a fully colorized, vibrant, high definition worldview.

Both cities have been the sites of unexpected and unfortunate tragedy. Boston’s urbane cool was shattered by the cowardly bomb blasts set off by a pair of misguided jihadists who thought their cause would be furthered by random death and destruction. Ferguson was announced into the public consciousness by a burst of gunfire followed by some misplaced acts of looting and mayhem by some misguided souls who thought they would further their cause by random acts of destruction. None of this destruction brought any of these bad actors closer to their goals; in fact, the destruction brought disharmony, distrust and disgust.

But there is a lesson to be learned from both the parallels and the differences of these two cities. Boston dusted itself off from its tragedy and said it would not be intimidated, it would not be silenced, and it would emerge stronger. It would stand strong, Boston Strong. In its way, Ferguson said it would not cower, it would speak loudly and it would fight back. Boston did it with yellow wrist bands worn with a fist in the air while Ferguson did it with two hands up along with some unfortunate rocks and bottles thrown in for good measure. The results could have not been more different. Boston seemed to have a vision and a game plan. Ferguson sent mixed messages and seemed a work in progress.

And here’s where public relations and marketing can help this work in progress become the start of something much better. Ferguson’s leaders – those elected, non-elected and self-appointed and just plain ordinary — can start to shape the story of where they want to go, how they are going to get there, and what they want their happily ever after to be. They can tell their story to many people, in many voices and in many ways. They can share their story in all its high definition color. For, if they don’t take the time to tell their story, somebody else will. The media fixated on the story of chaos and the images of breaking glass but skimped over the every day, ordinary leaders and people of Ferguson who showed up the next day to pick up the shards of the night before and quietly rebuild. There is a story here ready to be told, and it just might be a good one. Because if they don’t shape and tell their story and leave the mark they want to leave, the last word they hear will be the first thing that came to our collective minds.

As I sat in a conference full of this nation’s best civic marketers and communicators, it dawned on me that Ferguson might actually have a pretty cool story to tell. The people gathered here or others like them could help them tell that story. Ferguson could rightly claim itself as the birthplace of a different kind of American revolution – a revolution that helps to open everyone’s eyes to the many colors of many people. But it will take some thought, some patience, and the work of a lot of people from many places, many backgrounds and of many skill sets to make possible. Ferguson has many bright and passionate citizens who have proven they will stand up. And now they need to stand up again, and tell the story of their city as a place from which great things will come, not a city from which bad things came. When they do so, the next time the word ‘Ferguson’ is mentioned, perhaps the first thing that comes to mind is the birthplace of an awakening of our national consciousness on the matter of many hearts and minds coming together as one in all their vibrant, high definition colors.

Is Ferguson ready to tell its story and are we as Americans up to the challenge of hearing that story? At this point, it is a tough story to tell but it is a story that must be told. It is a chance to raise the troubling questions, to pick the scabs of our public consciousness and, rather than dwell on the ugliness that festers beneath the scabs, to search for what can lift us all up together. The elements of a great story are there, right there in the shadows of America’s gateway city. Those who communicate on behalf of our nation’s cities and counties could help the people of Ferguson led the way in telling a new American story. Are we ready to forge ahead and find out what might be through the gates? Are we ready to be Fergustrong?