I have been purposefully silent on the issue of Trayvon Martin.
I am upset.
And angry.
And disappointed.
As a parent of four children, two of which are boys, the incident struck home in a way I can’t fully articulate.
But the fact hat there has not yet been an arrest, combined with the attempts to portray the victim as the instigator, and in light of the facts that have since come out about Zimmerman and his actions that fateful evening, have conspired to force me to speak out.
There’s a lot of outrage in the Black community, because the death of this young teen has gone unaddressed.
What I find particularly galling, is that almost two months after his unprovoked killing, there has been no obvious progress in the case.
In fact, today, the Special Prosecutor in the case, decided not to impanel the grand jury in this case.
But what do we know?
We know that Trayvon was a guest in the complex. His father lived there. If Zimmerman was really up on his Neighborhod Watch j-o-b, he would have know this.
We know that Zimmerman first observed Trayvon from the safety of his SUV. Why Trayvon looked suspicious with a hood over his head on a rainy day, remains to be seen. Oh right, Trayvon was Black. We all look suspicious.
We know that Zimmerman followed Trayvon. Rather than follow the cardinal rule of every neighborhood watch, ‘observe and report’, Zimmerman decided that he would observe and follow.
We know that Trayvon was concerned that he was being followed. Trayvon called his girlfriend about the dark colored SUV following him.
We know that Zimmerman was expressly told not to follow Trayvon by the police.
Dispatcher: Are you following him?
Zimmerman: Yeah
Dispatcher: Ok, we don’t need you to do that.
Zimmerman: Ok
We know that Zimmerman left his vehicle. You’re in the safety of your vehicle. Yet, you chose to leave the safety of your vehicle to confront someone who ‘look suspicious’ and could ‘be on drugs’. Oh wait. You’ve got a gun!
We know that Zimmerman was armed with a semi-automatic pistol. Interesting that he never told the dispatcher that before he got out of his vehicle.
We know that Zimmerman lied about being struck in the face and sustaining a busted lip. No blood. No slit lip. No bloody nose. Nothing.
We know that Zimmer lied about having the back of his slammed repeatedly on the pavement by Trayvon. No obvious bruising to his head – despite efforts to enhance the video to demonstrate otherwise. No medical assistance rendered to Zimmerman.
While we don’t know the exact nature of the exchange between Trayvon and Zimmerman, we do know that Trayvon was screaming in fear for his life before he was shot and killed.
We know that Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon. He admitted killing him.
Unfortunately, as we get further and further away from this incident, memories start to fail.
The outrage we once felt, may eventually be replaced by resignation, and then apathy.
Why should we expect anything different for Trayvon, then we have for our other (recently) slain children?
Who cares?
Well, for one, I do.
And so do a host of others in the public eye.
Including Mos Def, Dead Prez and mikeflo.
Together, these three have been working on a tribute song and video for Trayvon, to keep the memory of his tragic death, alive in our collective consciousness.
If you want to do something to ensure that justice is served in this case, please feel free to donate to Justice For Trayvon Martin, which was established by his family to support awareness of civil rights, social justice and the quality of life for young black men.
But whatever happens, keep up the rallying cry for justice.
Trayvon deserves it.
Stephen Chukumba 