On February 26th, 2012, Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by a
white neighborhood watch volunteer named George Zimmerman. Trayvon Martin was
walking home wearing a black hoodie and holding a pack of skittles and an
Arizona in his hand when Zimmerman shot him, claiming he looked
suspicious.
On February 26th, 2016, just 4 years later North Carolina A&T
supported Trayvon Martin in front of the reflection pool, with spoken word,
poems, songs, and a discussion. In the discussion many people talked about
where they were when they first heard about what happened and how they felt
about it. Many people said they were at home and when they heard about it. One person
stated that race had not even been a factor at the time. He just felt that the
whole situation was messed up in general. Other people felt that we go to an
HBCU and almost everyone should be out by the reflection pool to support and
share their ideas, however there was only a good 15 of us outside. The
discussion went as deep as to talking about how everyone felt when they found
out Zimmerman was acquitted. They felt that it was officially going to be a
war. This whole situation officially opened everyone’s eyes and showed people
what has still been going on in the world. We had candles with people’s names
on them who died in the same situation that people never even heard about
before the Trayvon Martin case. Travon Martin sparked the Black Lives Matter
Movement, the peace riots, etc. One boy stated that he had went into a store
with his mother and a white man was following him around and the boy stopped
and the man said “May I help you?” And the boy said, “I’m just shopping in the
store with my mother is that okay?” And so he went and told his mother what
happened and his mother approached the man and said why were you following my
son around and the man said “Because your son is resembles the type of people
we are looking for.” And his son had on an A&T hat a hoodie and some
sweatpants. Another person stated that African Americans as a whole should stop
worrying about what people see them as and what people are going to think and
just go out and do what they feel is right and what needs to be done. They
stated that people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X had people behind
them supporting them in what they were doing. It wasn’t just them by themselves
but they had a whole community supporting what was right. And that is what we
need to do as a whole and as an HBCU.
My personal experience of
the whole Trayvon Martin case was when I participated in the Trayvon Martin
march in New York. It surprised me when some people rolled up their windows or
even yelled out that we should listen to the police. I couldn’t believe that
they felt it was okay to just shoot a random boy who did nothing wrong. I
remember when I found out Zimmerman was acquitted I was personally hurt. There were
black mothers on the jury who had sons and they still felt that Zimmerman had a
right to be free.
I believe after Trayvon Martin situation happened that many more people were willing to open up to the world what was really happening to them and their family. Also, it seemed that many situations like this started to reoccur, I'm not sure if police just felt as it they were going to get away with it after this or if it was already happening before and it just wasn't publicized. I also believe that as a black community we should stand together when it comes to things like this but also this has be something that's spoken out and giving people the opportunity to know about gathering like this because I didn't know that there was a ceremony and neither did any of my friends.
ReplyDeleteAs I think about how long ago that tragedy occurred, I find it amazing that it is somewhat on the back burner in everyday life. Like you said above only 15 people showed up to reflect on a black tragedy at a HBCU, it is sad really. I think with the world moving so fast, we sometimes forget what were really fighting about. Emotions drive change and I believe that hurts progress the most. We need to find a clear angle so our protest is a constant fire, not one that burns really bright at first then dies out. It is almost unfair the amount of social load we go through on a daily basis. For example, god forbid an example a similar case happens, who is going to take our movements and protests serious if we only raise awareness for 1 month or so. I think we should create some time of father movement that all of these wrongful incidences can all be supported on.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard about this, the Trayvon Martin news shocked me as if he were my own family. I felt very hurt and very involved in the case because it was as if I'd known him for a very long time. Its very depressing to see there weren't 100 people at the least at the reflection on Trayvon Martin. In my alone time, I tend to think far. I think about various things, but for a few years now I've been thinking about how unfair it is for blacks(and other races, but mostly black people) and how were treated. We are the future and we're the only ones who can prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhen i think about police brutality and I hear people say all police offices are bad, I disagree. My father is a police officer and of course I think he is a good cop. But I also think that there are some bad ones out there.
ReplyDeleteI think the Trayvon Martin situation reflected the reality of American society. It just shows how tainted the justice system is and how racism and prejudice is still very much prevalent today. It's a tragedy that's things like this occur and end in death. There is no coming back from that.
ReplyDeleteWhat Shocked me most about the Trayvon Martin case was the fact that the media was posing Trayvon Martin as if he was "Troubled Kid". Just to defend Zimmermans point of view. I believe that's what the media does, use African american women and men pictures that seem were "trouble" just so they can have a reason to expect Blacks are trouble people. I question the Justice system alot, because there is just some things you know are just not right. The Trayvon Martin was a case that was just not right. It didn't make sense and till this day it still doesn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteThe Trayvon Martin case was very emotional for me as I followed the entire case until the end and broke down at the results. It's very sad to even relate this to my own life, I have a little brother myself who is 16 years old and would never cause harm to anybody. To think that he could be killed any moment just because of the color of his skin terrifies me. I feel that going to rallies promotes awareness but doesn't really solve anything in my eyes. The law is rigged and we basically can't do anything about it.
ReplyDelete