When I look at Trayvon Martin, I see my "baby" brother, who turns 17 next month. I'm almost positive he has that same red Hollister shirt the press shows Trey wearing. My brother likes to wear hoodies instead of coats. My brother walks to his part-time job at McDonald's sometimes, and what is preventing some racist motherfucker with a history of violence like Zimmerman from thinking he looks suspicious, or like he doesn't belong? It sounds to me like these "stand your ground" laws give anyone the right to take the law into their own hands in a dangerous situation--evidently even one where you could have not gotten involved in the situation. I can't live comfortably in a world where grown-ass 200 pound White men can *murder*--let's call this what it is--skinny Black high school kids. This is just too close to home. And it's not the only case of its kind recently. I NEED people to understand that this is not an isolated incident of one crazy man. It's not even the first such incident in that county in recent years.
There were no eyewitnesses, and the police don't seem to regard the police calls from nearby residents in which you can hear Trayvon's bloodcurdling screams for help as sufficient evidence. No one saw can't be justification for injustice. Our judicial system exists to bear witness to that which no one witnessed. We must be the voice for those whose voices have been taken away, but progress can't happen if we remember only the victims. Remember both of their names.
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