Tracy Martin, Sybrina Fulton, Jahvaris Fulton
TWEETS FROM TRAYVON MARTIN’S FAMILY
Trayvon Martin
Lord during my darkest hour I lean on you. You are all that I have. At the end of the day, GOD is still in control. Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will love you forever Trayvon!!! In the name of Jesus!!! — Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother
Et tu, America? –Jahvaris Fulton, Trayvon’s brother
Thanks to everyone who are with us and who will be with us so we together can make sure that this doesn’t happen again. – Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s brother
HURT, SORROW, ANGER–REACTIONS TO THE ZIMMERMAN ACQUITTAL
by Julianne Hing, Color Lines
Saturday, July 13, 2013
George Zimmerman and attorneys after acquittal late July 13, 2013
A six-person jury in Sanford, Florida found George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watchman, not guilty of killing Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black teen, on Saturday. The jury, composed of six women, all but one of whom were white, acquitted Zimmerman of second-degree murder as well as a lesser charge of manslaughter.
On February 26 of last year, Zimmerman saw Martin walking home in the rain in his father’s gated community and thinking Martin a dangerous threat, approached him and soon after shot and killed the unarmed black teen. The jury deliberated for 16 hours after a nearly three-week trial during which Zimmerman’s defense argued that he’d been shaken by home break-ins and was attacked by Martin, killing him out of fear for his own life. The prosecution argued that Zimmerman, who ignored a dispatcher warning not to approach Martin, was driven by malice toward Martin. With their verdict, the jury decided that Zimmerman could have been justified in killing Martin that rainy night.
Tracy Martin kisses his son Trayvon in happier times.
Courtroom proceedings during the trial studiously sidestepped race—Judge Debra Nelson barred attorneys from using the word “racial profiling” during the trial in a murder case that was driven entirely by racial profiling.
Observers of the trial reacted to the verdict with outrage on social media. Below are a few of the responses from folks in the racial justice world.
Twitter Responds to George Zimmerman Verdict
jay smooth@jsmooth995: The fundamental danger of an acquittal is not more riots, it is moe George ZImmermans.
Marc Lamont Hill@marclamonthill: We live in a country where it is not only illegal, but lethal, to be young and Black and outside. Trayvon is our nation’s metaphor.
Jose Antonio Vargas@joseiswriting: Dear media: we do not live in a “post-racial” America. Proof: Trayvon verdict, among countless other reasons.
Michael Eric Dyson@MichaelEDyson: Zimmerman not-guilty decision one of the most profound miscarriages of justice in our nation’s history. Trayvon Martin grieves in his grave.
‘The system has failed’: Hundreds of demonstrators voice their disappointment and anger over not guilty verdict in George Zimmerman trial
Protesters in Oakland, CA burn U.S. flag.
Demonstrators in cities across the country took to the streets to protest the not guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin murder trial
After George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder protesters outside of the Florida courthouse chanted their disappointment with the court’s verdict and justice system at large
Hundreds of people took to social media to express their outrage over the verdict and many warned of revenge attacks against Zimmerman
Hundreds marched in cities across the country with the vast majority of protests remaining peaceful
Some violence broke out in Oakland where crowds smashed windows and started small fires.
Trayvon Martin protest after verdict.
Angry crowds gathered in major cities across the country late last night following the not guilty verdict in the Trayvon Martin case.
The demonstrators carried signs and gathered en masse from New York to Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Though the marches were largely non-violent, police assembled close by to monitor activity – fearful strong reactions to the verdict could spill over into rioting.
In Oakland, California, long a hotbed of racial tension, some protestors turned violent – vandalizing police cars, breaking windows and setting fire to garbage cans.
One photo from the protests in the city shows men dousing a flag in lighter fluid and setting it alight.
Protest in Los Angeles, CA.
More demonstrations are planned today under the banner of ‘Justice 4 Trayvon.’ At least three separate protests are scheduled for New York City alone – one in lower Manhattan, one in Harlem an a third in Brooklyn.
Trayvon Martin protest/Reuters
In Washington D.C., CBS reported the group of protesters grew from three people to about 400.
They marched for an hour and a half, picking up people from bars and clubs along the way. People carried signs and chanted for racial equality.
- James Evan Muhammad, front left, of the New Black Panther Party, shouts slogans after the verdict of not guilty was handed down in the trial of George Zimmerman at the Seminole County Courthouse, Saturday, July 13, 2013, in Sanford, Fla. Neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman was cleared of all charges Saturday in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate across the U.S. over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
‘Stop criminalizing black men,’ one sign read.
‘I will not walk on these streets in fear,’ one protester told the broadcaster. ‘I’m not afraid’.
Another rally is expected tonight at Meridian Hill Park and New York’s Union Square while many are expected to re-converge outside the trial courthouse in Florida at 3pm today.
The Miami Herald reported that many churches in the state were planning to remain open throughout the day to help people deal with news of the verdict.
Two protest areas have been erected to allow protests in the city and police officers will be ordered to remain in uniform today to show their presence.
California protest
Courthouses and other public buildings were the focus of many of the marches.
More than 40 people gathered at Sacramento City Hall.
The Sacramento Bee reported that protesters chanted: ‘What do we want? Justice. When do you we want it? Now. For who? Trayvon.’
Los Angeles protesters.
Amongst the protesters at the courthouse were members of the New Black Panther Party who wore shirts reading, ‘Freedom or Death.’
The Sun Sentinel reported that the militants spoke of ‘injustice’ in the moments after the ruling.
‘No one, no one could have foreseen that he would walk away,’ said James Evans Muhammad, the party chairperson told the newspaper.
Crowd outside Seminole County Courthouse where verdict was handed down.
A crowd of college students were amongst the louder voices present, chanting their dissent well after the verdict was announced.
Violent words were thrown around on social media and vitriolic posters threatened that Zimmerman was a ‘dead man walking.’
Several online commentators sent out George Zimmerman’s address while others post threats using the hashtag ‘If I Ever See Zimmerman’.
LA protest.
However, most heeded the Martin family’s immediate calls for calm and sadness was the pervasive feeling among the thousands reacting to the divisive verdict last night.
Stevie Johnson, wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills compared the Zimmerman verdict to Michael Vicks dog fighting case.
‘Living in a world where you fight dogs; you could lose everything (Mike Vick).. If you kill a black man you’re not guilty!#INjusticesystem,‘ Johnson wrote.
Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade lamented the verdict Tweeting,’ How do I explain this to my young boys????’
Musicians also tweeted their frustration with the jury’s verdict. Celebrities including Rihanna, Ice Cube, and Nicki Minaj criticized the court’s verdict.
Rihanna tweeted, ‘This is the saddest news ever!!! #whatsjustice.’
Ice Cube wrote: ‘The Trayvon Martin verdict doesn’t surprise me. Stanford, FL never wanted Zimmerman arrested. Now he’s free to kill another child.’
Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend Rachel Jenteal testifies at trial. She was talking to him on his cell phone when Zimmerman shot him to death.
American Idol judge and pop star Nicki Minaj wrote: ‘And our taxes paid for that trial. We just paid to see a murderer walk free after killing an innocent unarmed little boy. #GodBlessAmerica.’
Actors spoke out against the verdict as well, sending their prayers to the Martin family and expressing their disapproval of the court’s verdict.
HBO Girl’s star and writer Lena Dunham sent her condolences to the Martin family tweeting, ‘No. My heart is with Sybrina Fulton, Rachel Jeantel, everyone who loved Trayvon and has been sent the message that his life didn’t matter.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2362829/George-Zimmerman-verdict-Hundreds-voice-disappointment-Trayvon-Martin-case.html#ixzz2Z2OT4KgC
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TRAYVON MARTIN RALLIES PLANNED TO PROTEST ZIMMERMAN VERDICT
By Amy Pavuk, Orlando Sentinel
10:52 a.m. EDT, July 14, 2013
Rally outside Seminole County Courthouse.
Supporters of Trayvon Martin will host a rally Sunday afternoon outside the Seminole County Courthouse to protest the not guilty verdict in the George Zimmerman trial.
The Coalition of Justice for Trayvon is calling for nationwide protests.
“The protests will look toward a New America, where black and brown youth are protected by the justice system and racial oppression is ended,” the organizers’ news statement said.
Protester outside Seminole County courthouse.
The Coalition, comprised of student groups and community members from across Florida, will organize a rally at 3 p.m. outside the courthouse on Bush Boulevard in Sanford.
“The organizers feel that the entire system has failed to bring justice, and that the youth have gained a new resolve to move beyond this case and to end racial oppression for good,” the news statement said.
Meanwhile, another group is calling for a statewide day of action in Florida for Trayvon Martin for later in the week.
Dream Defenders said it will be demonstrating outside the Capitol building and other locations Tuesday to organize “pressure” in response to the Zimmerman verdict and “other civil rights issues in the state of Florida.”
In a statement issued Sunday, Dream Defenders said: “Our thoughts are with Trayvon Martin’s family, who unfortunately will never have their son back. This is a true American tragedy for every child, mother, father, brother and sister in the nation. This is a reminder that our communities still find themselves profiled, targeted and oppressed each day. The battle for true Justice in an unequal society is never simple. Florida has taken another one of ours. We must hold on to our anger in the face of the injustice and let the feelings of love for our community push us forward in fixing our broken society. We will never forget his name.”
Acquittal — July 13, 2013
by Mumia Abu-Jamal
July 8, 2013 – By the time these words reach you, perhaps it will all be over. “It” is the Zimmerman trial in Florida.
I have no idea what the ratings are for CNN, nor CNBC, for that matter, but I’d bet they’re pretty elevated from their usual summer viewership.
In this place of prison population, every man with a mouth wants to discuss the case. In the chow hall. On the walk ways. In the gym. On the yard. Not even the buxom (and buttsome) beauties of “Love and Hip Hop” have garnered that much attention.
Who will be next?
“Are you watching the trial?” “Who do you think is gonna win?” Questions bounce like basketballs, as all eyes are locked on this, the latest “trial of the century.”
The trial of George Zimmerman for the homicide of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin has snatched a level of public attention that hasn’t been seen since the mid-‘90s – in other words, the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
I believe, frankly, that Zimmerman will be acquitted. I may be wrong – but I don’t think so.
I’ve never seen a defense lawyer utilize, so skillfully, the ju-jitsu-style techniques of witness flipping. In all honesty, the state’s prosecution witnesses became defense witnesses.
And where the defense was adroit, the prosecutor bumbled and fumbled.
I may be wrong – I hope I’m wrong – but I don’t think I am.
We shall see.
© Copyright 2013 Mumia Abu-Jamal. Read Mumia’s latest book, “The Classroom and the Cell: Conversations on Black Life in America,” co-authored by Columbia University professor Marc Lamont Hill, available from Third World Press, TWPBooks.com. Keep updated at www.freemumia.com. For Mumia’s commentaries, visit www.prisonradio.org. For recent interviews with Mumia, visit www.blockreportradio.com. Encourage the media to publish and broadcast Mumia’s commentaries and interviews. Send our brotha some love and light: Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335, SCI-Mahanoy, 301 Morea Road, Frackville, PA 17932.
Protest of Trayvon Martin’s murder in Detroit, March 26, 2012.
STAND WITH TRAYVON MARTIN RALLY– DETROIT
SUNDAY, JULY 14, 2013 6 PM GRAND CIRCUS PARK
Please join local community organizations in peaceful protest in memory of Trayvon Martin in this time of injustice. Let this meeting also serve as a springboard for coalition building in Detroit around systemic inequalities and oppression. Hoodies are welcome!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/435535769816213/
My heart hurts for my people it will never change I feel.We are losing more our childern every day because people feel they have the right to hurt our kids.This was all about color know one on earth can stay it was not. Why are we the only ones that have tell our children about color at young age like something is wrong with them. I love my color and teach my childern to love their color.When will this every change?
I sadden not be able to attend the Trayvon Martin rally. When I looked at the picture of Trayvon Martin. When I viewed Zimmerman, his face looked like he been in several fight before the Trayvon Martin. I seem multple of people within mine own communtiy where I was raised, and mine own family and I tell if a person was claiming they were a fighter or now. When I seem some the brusites on his head , I wondering if they were self inflected, because my community their were a lot of scam job of claimming beated and when someone done the job toward. Seem to the bruistes should been deeper, unless Trayvon was hitting him from a distance or Zimmerman have fail and hurted his self at a barfight and someone threw something at him or was drunk and fail or when he was failed a couple time while fighting Trayvon. Person comcact would make a more deep impact on the deepest of the wounds. I know to speak about those Jurors who claim they went by the saying of Zimmerman how things was and no one was their to speak for Trayvon not even himself. I was a juror I couldn’t pass justment on Trayvon or Zimmerman because mine first thought I was not their and their evidence to proof that anyone was their but a witness who know Zimmerman. He didn’t see anything of blows just one man on top and another at the bottom. When man said he saw Trayvon on top. That could been a fix job. Cause he would saw and hear voices noise of the fighting. So Trayvon could been laying dead on Zimmerman at time he came around. Rachel Jenreal testomony was descripted for white jurors. She spoke softly but she was heard but didn’t use enought descripted word and didn’t have the time right. For Juror to say they goes by Zimmerman testiomony and not consider that TRayvon might been the victim. A mouse would lie being trap. I not going to judge Zimmerman eighter because he may been the victim. So, I couldn’t judge and claimed no one to because we be here all day claiming this when neighter or us was their. Only thing if Zimmerman is telling the truth or if he telling himself a story he got to live Trayvon ghost and what if I had stopped and what if prayed first and follow God leading instead of mine own. We all have sitution where make a terrible mistake in judgement. Where we sized up sitution for ourself. I feel for Zimmerman but I feel for Trayvon Martin he’s only a youth and lost his life before it was really beging because of a gun and Flordia state law. The people in Florida state government may feel that the law was carry out in court room and with the gun law in the state. But it only will change when something happens to one their family members and be too late. I speak mine because I want people to start caring. Our nation has become a country that is bias with their own thought for action and very few people believe that another one has the right to speak out and say what on their mine as well as them. Cause they are so busy crying for themselves and for family, friends that forget the next person has right to speakout and say what on their mine and allow to walk way without the other person feel guilty or shame that someone spoken up beside them. That other didn’t have to hurt that person because they spoken their mine. In my father and mother house if someone spoken negative to you or up aganist you or told the truth on you. You have a right to hurt them, thank, the lord I move away from those evil way and family is getting their. Some people in the country are upset because people where outrage because of the aquittal of Zimmerman shooting unarmed man. That Flordia state law only recongize the moments before the gun was shoot ( the action before or language before the gun went off). I just cann’t get over that facts were only creditable testiomony was Zimmerman and none the evidence showed Trayvon in a good way. I pray Zimmerman didn’t get that testoimony from one those cops shows. I am not going be baise because like everyone no one was really up close to find out the truth we can spectlate only from Zimmerman testiomony and doctor who said know voices and may been Zimmerman staging or not recuse for his personal defense. I not going to sit and judge because like those jurors I wasn’t there and only have one testiomny to view. It’s just bring bad memories of the neghborhood I grew up in when a boy gotten son in front of the school. That only time law makers going to care when it happen to their love ones. I wish nothing bad only one just hurts so bad, because of Flordia gun laws, how much saftely any one can look forward to while in Flordia if not a celeb or rich. Don’t go by their prosime you see what Trayvon Martin recieve from the neighbors in that complex and police.