Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman on February 26, 2012 at the age of 17 years old. He was unarmed.
So here is my first official Trayvon Martin post… Kind of. I’m still personally sorting out what happened and what this all really means to our society. I’m still trying EXTREMELY HARD to understand how shooting a CHILD (of ANY race) dead on the street can go UNINVESTIGATED and WITHOUT ARREST for 6 weeks in this country with all the attention given to the case. Not one time has this man been questioned again??? Who are these sadists who are finding some sort of peace in the fact that this man hasn’t had to pay a price for taking a life? We take life for granted in this country. I am an American, I am a taxpayer, a business woman and I feel. Below is what I first wrote as I formed my idea for a post about Trayvon:
[ORIGINALLY DRAFTED 2/22/12]:
OK… This is a tough one to write… First, I would feel completely insensitive to throw my two cents into the fray without first giving my sincere condolences to the family of Trayvon Martin. The pain of losing someone you love is absolutely heart-wrenching, but to see a boy of such a young age SENSELESSLY robbed of fulfilling his potential to become an amazing young MAN is the epitome of true heartbreak. I pray for their sanity, peace, and most of all, justice for Trayvon. For those of you that have been under a rock for the last month, I will not rehash all the bitter, angry details; that would not serve my purpose here, which is to deliver a dose of reality. If you would like to know what the details are, I suggest you start your research here. Once you do, I hope you realize why the mantra is so important. WE ARE TRAYVON MARTIN. In any and EVERY city throughout the country, née, the WORLD, these things happen regularly. It’s sickening to think that a CHILD could be murdered so publicly, in a “gated community” no less, and the murderer walks free in the world without being so much as brought in for serious questioning by the police department. A CHILD, armed only with a bag of Skittles and a bottle of iced tea. I have watched the news stories as they have gathered momentum, from circulated clips on various social networks to breaking coverage on CNN and other 24-hour news outlets. The fact that it could take so long to become a story, and even WORSE that it had to become a story at all, is tearing me apart as I type. I am not a mother, but this pain I can sympathize with no matter that detail. I ache for these parents and extended family because for 48 hours, Trayvon laid as a John Doe in a morgue. For two days, a family wondered and worried and waited. For a moment I strip race from it, and wish I could forever. I hope any reader who happens upon this post never has to feel being sick with worry over where your brother, cousin, or friend might be if unheard from for two whole days at the age of 17. And then to find out they have lain in a MORGUE, unclaimed and cold.
In that text I was still too shaken to write out fully my disdain for the way that people still hide and duck from racism in America. My mind is reeling from all the vitriolic hate and general ignorance I see in comments left on news website message boards. Now I realize the value of a hard-copy newspaper in the digital age; no ignorant, moronic rhetoric from average “Joes” who don’t take time to actually research the regurgitated words they utter. A dangerous game.
Furthermore, I am ashamed of my Black people… YES, I’m talking to YOU!!! Are WE doing RIGHT??? Not just pointing out the people in our community we KNOW aren’t doing the right thing, but doing right OURSELVES??? By talking to the neighbors? By saying hello, offering to help carry their groceries? Helping out the older people around you and gaining their wisdom and guidance, we will start to end these lunatic cycles of stupidity. If you actually CARE about the person living next to you in some small way, ADMIRE something about them whether it’s the way they keep their flowers in the yard or the way they bake a good banana bread, you would be less inclined to see something bad happen to them, and vice versa…
In that spirit, here is video I took of a rally held here in Philadelphia at Love Park on March 29, 2012, organized by my friends, Khalid Moffitt and Duchess Arrita Robinson of the Philadelphia Chapter of the NAACP. The speakers really drove home some amazing points. I didn’t edit the video before I put it on YouTube because A) I didn’t have time, LOL! & B) I honestly like the rawness. I don’t want it doctored. Here is the call to action (although my phone battery died on the last 20 minutes or so, I got a good portion) and some great words spoken about how YOU should take action in your own communities. This is the way we take back our power, America.
*I have another small piece I shot, but I think I will save it for when I do get the chance to edit it… Please pass it on and be inspired to elicit growth in your neighborhood. Barack has given us Hope, but we must all be the Change we want to see!!!
namaste, my damies.
WE ARE TRAYVON MARTIN.,