Exactly one year ago on February 26, a young man walking home from a convenience store in Sanford, Florida was shot and killed. No crime was charged at that time, or in the days and weeks after, in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by a 30-something man with a history of violence, and racist slurs, voiced in person and on the internet, George Zimmerman.
Unless you were local, you probably knew nothing about the murder of Trayvon Martin until his parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, started a petition at Change.org (hat tip to shanikka for the correction).
On February 26, our son Trayvon Martin was shot and killed as he walked to a family member’s home from a convenience store where he had just bought some candy. He was only 17 years-old.
Trayvon’s killer, George Zimmerman, admitted to police that he shot Trayvon in the chest. Zimmerman, the community’s self appointed “neighborhood watch leader,” called the police to report a suspicious person when he saw Travyon, a young black man, walking from the store. But Zimmerman still hasn’t been charged for murdering our son.
Trayvon was our hero. At the age 9, Trayvon pulled his father from a burning kitchen, saving his life. He loved sports and horseback riding. At only 17 he had a bright future ahead of him with dreams of attending college and becoming an aviation mechanic. Now that’s all gone. (Please read petition in entirety at Change.org..
2,278,311 supporters signed this petition, and supported Ms. Fulton and Mr. Martin in seeking Justice for Trayvon. This was the way most of us learned about a teenaged boy of color who had been killed in Florida, with no criminal charges in his death. The petition was the catalyst for Million Hoodie Marches, worldwide media attention, and ultimately, a grand jury and second degree murder charges against George Zimmerman.
In a culture that inundates us with images of Black men as violent – not to be trusted, inherently criminal – we are continually reminded that something as simple as walking home from the corner store can draw unwanted attention that puts our very lives in danger. Black Americans face racial animosity every day, and far too often that animosity turns violent.
As we mourn, we must also acknowledge that if it weren’t for the hundreds of thousands of you who spoke up to demand basic dignity and justice, Trayvon Martin’s case would have been ignored – and George Zimmerman would have gone free. As our membership grows in number, so does our power to fight injustice.
Although the criminal trial is set for June, on this day, one year later, Trayvon’s legacy lives on.
From Chauncey deVega, writing for Salon:
Trayvon Martin was killed for the crime of being black, young and “suspicious.” Like many other young black boys and grown men throughout United States history, he was shot dead for the crime of possessing an innocuous object (and likely daring to be insufficiently compliant to someone who imagined that they had the state’s permission to kill people of color without consequence or condemnation).
The facts are still playing themselves out. From all appearances, the police have failed to investigate the incident properly. Trayvon Martin’s family has been denied the reasonable care, respect, and response due to them by the local authorities. Observers and activists have gravitated towards racism as the prime motive for the shooting and murder of a young black boy by a grown man and self-styled mall cop, Charles Bronson, Dirty Harry wannabe vigilante.
Common sense renders a clear judgement here: If a black man shot and killed a white kid for holding a bag of Skittles he would already be under the jail; in this instance, the police are operating from a position where a young African American is presumed “guilty,” and his murderer is assumed innocent.
Months before mass shootings at Aurora and Newtown put gun control at the forefront of the nation’s attention, America’s trigger-happy gun culture crystallized because a 17-year-old black male, armed with Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea, was murdered by a man who considered himself the “neighborhood watchman,” and practiced racial profiling.
We remember, in the city where Trayvon lived his too short life on this earth, and wherever you stand in solidarity for our children to be as safe as they can possibly be.
No justice. No peace.