For anyone who may not know, Trayvon Martin is the 17-year-old child who was killed by George Zimmerman last month in Sanford, Florida.The boy was walking home from a convenience store, followed by Zimmerman, the local Neighborhood Watch leader, and ultimately shot dead.
There is quite a bit of speculation as to whether there was really any sort of threat to Zimmerman, as he has claimed, and if he can truly say he acted in self defense.
That leads to the question of whether Zimmerman has the right to hide
behind Florida's Stand Your Ground law.
After reading a multitude of articles and watching numerous news reports detailing both Zimmerman's history of vigilante-like behavior and eye-witness accounts, I think this is one of those horrific situations where it takes the worst-case scenario becoming reality to see the problems with a law in the way it currently stands on the books.
If Trayvon Martin were my child, I would damn well want justice.
I would not find peace with anyone telling me that the actions of my child's murderer were justified simply because my son "looked suspicious."
I would not rest until changes were made to keep such a horrendous thing from happening to another mother's child.
But I would not be able to do it alone.
I would hope that people would stand with me to ask for justice and change.
I would hope that my son's death not be in vain.
I would hope for support like that offered by the 1,000,000 Hoodie March in New York City.
I would hope for over one million signatures on the petition asking for changes in the law which allowed the murderer of my child to walk free.
I would hope to have my nation stand behind me and
fight against racial profiling, social injustice, and inequality.
Trayvon was "suspicious."
He was Black.
He was wearing a hoodie.
He was armed with Skittles and an iced tea.
And now he is dead at 17.
Fight for change.
Don't allow such heinous crimes to be committed while
you turn your head or say, "It isn't my problem."
Why?
Because it is your problem.
Because it is your problem.
Because you could be the mother of Trayvon Martin.
I am.
In fact, I am the mother of two Trayvon Martins.
Sign the petition.
Make your voice heard.
Fight for the safety of all of our children on our streets.
Hope for a better future.
Don't let Trayvon die without his voice having been heard.
This story is so sad. I'm used to hearing about the ignorance of an individual but not an entire police department...not in this day and age. The saddest part was hearing that this boys body laid in the morgue for 3 days before his family was notified. They didn't check his cell phone or answer it when it rang. They let his family worry for 3 days and then let his murderer go free! I pray for justice for this boy, his family and any other "suspicious" kids in this community.
ReplyDeleteIs this 1962 instead of 2012? Black children being killed for looking "suspicious?" Women being denied insurance-paid birth control because someone else thinks it is "immoral?" How far backwards has this country gone when vigilante "justice" is the law and women are considered too stupid to do what is right for themselves? Or when a legislator wonders if women know the difference between consensual sex and marital rape for the purposes of birth control. I'm angry that too many people, including me, are just letting this happen. I'll sign the petition and hope for a better future, but sometimes it just doesn't seem as though it could happen. BTW, your two little "hoodies" are so adorable. My God in Heaven: how could ANYBODY shoot these kids and kids like them on the suspicion of "concealed carry Skittles?"
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