Motley Moose – Archive

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..)

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.

Exactly one year ago today, 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.

Tomorrow 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.

Finally! I wait every year, not patiently, for the Academy Awards, and this is The Big Night.  

Do you love movies as much as I do?  I have only seen a couple of the movies nominated, but it’s fun to watch the celebs on the red carpet (their hairdos and even more, the hair-don’ts), the jewelry and pero Dios mio, the dresses!) who can resist the glamour, the decadence, and so much Shiny Stuff only once a year?  Not me.

My aunt and I like to watch together.  Our big activity in the winter months to see all the movies before the awards, but not this year. Yes, since you asked, we do make a big production of it, and wear our best dresses to eat appetizers and get blasted drinking a pitcher of Oscar’s Big Night (recipe below).  This year, we can’t be together.  My husband’s taste in movies trends toward car chases or paranormal activities . . so I’m hoping there are some Meese who like movies?

I remember MCA. I never had a chance to actually meet him, but I miss him, every day.

I’ll always remember the uncommon goodness of Adam Yauch, de-facto leader of The Beastie Boys, and a man whose rap lyrics and music were something new and different at the time.  

Traditional media likes to stereotype rap as a “black thang,” but from what I’ve seen, they have yet to comprehend one slender thread of their own institutional racism, as evidenced by their dismissal of a music genre, and as ever, falsely attributing the “shock” of it to people of color.

The Beastie Boys were hopelessly irresistible to the teenage geek girl I was, growing up in New Orleans, restricted to my room (99% of the time).

When MC Adam died of nasopharyngeal cancer at the age of 46, he had imprinted every teenager of the 90s, and even some of our parents, to see beauty and meaning in the day-to-day we don’t even notice.

Brave, brilliant, equipped with a mordant wit, a man who feared nothing, even his impending death, this was MCA.