Tag Archives: Racism

BE THERE. BE TOGETHER.

Justice for Trayvon Martin rally, Monday, 6 p.m., at Hart Plaza on the Detroit River. Details here.

March 26 is a national day of action for anyone who would like to wear a hoodie without being killed. It’s a national day of action for everyone who is outraged that shooting another person just because they don’t like their looks can be called self-defense.

Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old Miami kid who was shot to death on Feb. 26 in a Florida scrub town by a man who found his appearance suspicious.

Trayvon, visiting family in Sanford, Florida, was walking in the rain, carrying a pack of Skittles and a can of iced tea. He was unarmed. He was wearing a gray hoodie. He was black.

George Zimmerman, the 28-year-old man who shot Trayvon, has been called a self-appointed neighborhood watch captain — with a 9mm handgun.  In an edited copy of his 911 call to police, Zimmerman called the teenager “a real suspicious guy” and said: “They always get away.” Zimmerman sounds breathless. The wind is buffeting his phone. The dispatcher asks Zimmerman if he’s following the youth. “Yes,” Zimmerman says. The dispatcher tells him not to. “We don’t need you to do that.”

Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend, who was on the phone with him at the time, described his end of a confrontation … [read more] Continue reading →