Feature Friday: Justice for Trayvon?

Indeed I must warn you, that unlike my previous posts, this one is a bit more somber. Almost 50 days ago, on February 26th, 2012 a 17 year old young man by the name of Trayvon Martin was killed. He was followed and killed by a neighborhood watchman by the name of George Zimmerman (who happens to be white) because he looked "suspicious" wearing a hoodie and being black in a predominantly white neighborhood. Since this event occurred it has been all over the nation and world. There have been protests in many states, by angry people trying to shed light on the injustice in this case. What injustice you may ask? Believe or not Zimmerman was not arrested until April 11th, 2012 because he claimed he was protected by the "Stand Your Ground" Law (which entitles a person to defend himself if he feels threatened).

Even though this happened in Florida, there has been a lot of news coverage and also protests as well (How can we forget "The Million Hoodie March") here in New York. So while out in out in Times Square some nights ago I was plesantly surprised to run across an artist (see pic below) that was encouraging people to sign his petition and drawings of Trayvon Martin because he didn't want his memory to die.

ARTIST

People from all walks of life started stopping and signing the petition and it really shocked me to see how this one dead boy thousands of miles away touched the lives of so many people. I started feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, thinking that this world may not be as terrible a place it pretends to be. UNTIL, a woman walked up to the artist and honestly asked "Who is Trayvon Martin?". Although it was such a simple question; my eyes blogged, my jaw fell open and I thought to myself "You have GOT TO BE KIDDING ME".  We are in New York City, the city that NEVER sleeps, the city that has a news station on almost every corner, the city that reports if the wind is blowing too hard and YOU my dear lady have not heard about this case??? The artist who was more gracious than I could ever be at that point in time, politely explained what happened to Trayvon and why he was doing what he was doing. So guess what the lady does next???


A. Becomes emotional and doesn't believe such injustice still exists in America
B. Kicks herself for not being at least aware of something so monumental
C. Signs the petition and vows to inform others so more youths won't end up like Trayvon
D. Walks away stone faced without saying a word

HALL OF SHAME

If you guessed D, then you are 100% correct and you just won a big dose of disbelief and harsh reality. It's funny how people who don't take time to care about others want others to care when terrible things happen to them. She walked away with total disinterest like it was NOT her problem. Lady if that was your son, I wonder how much more you would do to keep his memory alive? And because of that dear lady I must induct you into my Hall of Shame (yes I managed to snap a quick pic of you asking your foolish question). I think it was a VERY GOOD thing I didn't manage to capture your face because you probably might become as hated as George Zimmerman himself because of your pure ignorance. Ignorance like this can only be conquered with knowledge and this knowledge can only be obtained if we truly seek it.

 We need to stop being a mindless society, we need to stop worrying about trivial things like iPhone updates, Snooki's pregnancy, who won what award and open up our minds to how REAL this world is. Zimmerman not being behind bars all this time is injustice and even if he gets to serve time justice is NOT served. The greatest injustice of all is knowing that a young man lost his life without even getting a chance to reach his true potential and that a family has lost someone due to a senseless act of violence. I am not asking you to become the next Dr. Martin Luther King Jr or do something like what this artist did; all I am asking you to do is be aware. Be aware of your words and actions and make sure everything that you do from now on will make the world a better place for our future generations. Don't let Trayvon's death be in vain but let us make his death the last.

Signed,

An Average but Concerned New Yorker

AvgNYer@gmail.com