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No discussion of Trayvon Martin?

Totally agree. I have seen this on the Today show the past couple of days and feel so bad for this family. I haven't really heard too much about his age, how old was he? I thought I heard 11 at one time and then 17.
 
cause it was "self defense" :9:
 
Momof2girls said:
Totally agree. I have seen this on the Today show the past couple of days and feel so bad for this family. I haven't really heard too much about his age, how old was he? I thought I heard 11 at one time and then 17.
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Trayvon was 17.

mrsmom said:
cause it was "self defense" :9:
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Hell, no.

Zimmerman is a crackpot vigilante with a gun who shot & killed an unarmed teen walking home. The kid was talking on his cell with his girlfriend, minding his own business.
 
ennui said:
Trayvon was 17.


Hell, no.

Zimmerman is a crackpot vigilante with a gun who shot & killed an unarmed teen walking home. The kid was talking on his cell with his girlfriend, minding his own business.
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He was armed...with skittles and ice tea :pout:
 
Because there is not a shred of justice in the world. This man hunted that innocent boy down through the neighborhood and murdered him in cold blood.

Everyone should be raising their voices demanding justice...I mean really who wants to live in a country where a child can be murdered for simply being. Acting suspicious? Bullshit...the armed lunatic hiding behind his neighborhood watch captain paranoid delusions was the one acting suspiciously. SMH
 
He may have had a case if there wasn't a report that he called the cops on 47?? other people. all African americans, of course. Nah, this was definitely legal and self defense. :sarcasm:
 
I though this was a good blog on the topic.


White People, You Will Never Look Suspicious!
Posted March 19, 2012 by Michael Skolnik

I will never look suspicious to you. Even if I have a black hoodie, a pair of jeans and white sneakers on...in fact, that is what I wore yesterday...I still will never look suspicious. No matter how much the hoodie covers my face or how baggie my jeans are, I will never look out of place to you. I will never watch a taxi cab pass me by to pick someone else up. I will never witness someone clutch their purse tightly against their body as they walk by me. I won't have to worry about a police car following me for two miles, so they can "run my plates." I will never have to pay before I eat. And I certainly will never get "stopped and frisked." I will never look suspicious to you, because of one thing and one thing only. The color of my skin. I am white.

I was born white. It was the card I was dealt. No choice in the matter. Just the card handed out by the dealer. I have lived my whole life privileged. Privileged to be born without a glass ceiling. Privileged to grow up in the richest country in the world. Privileged to never look suspicious. I have no guilt for the color of my skin or the privilege that I have. Remember, it was just the next card that came out of the deck. But, I have choices. I got choices on how I play the hand I was dealt. I got a lot of options. The ball is in my court.

So, today I decided to hit the ball. Making a choice. A choice to stand up for Trayvon Martin. 17 years old. black. innocent. murdered with a bag of skittles and a bottle of ice tea in his hands. "Suspicious." that is what the guy who killed him said he looked like cause he had on a black hoodie, a pair of jeans and white sneakers. But, remember I had on that same outfit yesterday. And yes my Air Force Ones were "brand-new" clean. After all, I was raised in hip-hop...part of our dress code. I digress. Back to Trayvon and the gated community in Sanford, Florida, where he was visiting his father.

I got a lot of emails about Trayvon. I have read a lot of articles. I have seen a lot of television segments. The message is consistent. Most of the commentators, writers, op-ed pages agree. Something went wrong. Trayvon was murdered. Racially profiled. Race. America's elephant that never seems to leave the room. But, the part that doesn't sit well with me is that all of the messengers of this message are all black too. I mean, it was only two weeks ago when almost every white person I knew was tweeting about stopping a brutal African warlord from killing more innocent children. And they even took thirty minutes out of their busy schedules to watch a movie about dude. They bought t-shirts. Some bracelets. Even tweeted at Rihanna to take a stance. But, a 17 year old American kid is followed and then ultimately killed by a neighborhood vigilante who happens to be carrying a semi-automatic weapon and my white friends are quiet. Eerily quiet. Not even a trending topic for the young man.

We've heard the 911 calls. We seen the 13 year old witness. We've read the letter from the alleged killer's father. We listened to the anger of the family's attorney. We've felt the pain of Trayvon's mother. For heaven's sake, for 24 hours he was a deceased John Doe at the hospital because even the police couldn't believe that maybe he LIVES in the community. There are still some facts to figure out. There are still some questions to be answered. But, let's be clear. Let's be very, very clear. Before the neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman, started following him against the better judgement of the 911 dispatcher. Before any altercation. Before any self-defense claim. Before Travyon's cries for help were heard on the 911 tapes. Before the bullet hit him dead in the chest. Before all of this. He was suspicious. He was suspicious. suspicious. And you know, like I know, it wasn't because of the hoodie or the jeans or the sneakers. Cause I had on that same outfit yesterday and no one called 911 saying I was just wandering around their neighborhood. It was because of one thing and one thing only. Trayvon is black.

So I've made the choice today to tell my white friends that the rights I take for granted are only valid if I fight to give those same rights to others. The taxi cab. The purse. The meal. The police car. The police. These are all things I've taken for granted.

So, I fight for Trayvon Martin. I fight for Amadou Diallo. I fight for Rodney King. I fight for every young black man who looks "suspicious" to someone who thinks they have the right to take away their freedom to walk through their own neighborhood. I fight against my own stereotypes and my own suspicions. I fight for people whose ancestors built this country, literally, and who are still treated like second class citizens. Being quiet is not an option, for we have been too quiet for too long.

-Michael Skolnik

Michael Skolnik is the Editor-In-Chief of GlobalGrind.com and the political director to Russell Simmons. Prior to this, Michael was an award-winning filmmaker. Follow him on twitter @MichaelSkolnik
 
I've tries to "start" this a couple times, but it's really too upsetting for me to discuss.
 
mrsmom said:
cause it was "self defense" :9:
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Please tell me this was sarcasm...please tell me that?

Who besides the man who killed him is saying that because even the people who had statements taken as witnesses say that it wasn't. The boy was unarmed...what self defense?
 
I hadn't heard about this until today when I saw mrsmelton's pic on her facebook.I thought it was her sons pic as it was a beautiful young boy who appeared to be about 15. I then heard about this on the news. SO ridiculously sad and so NOT self defense.
 
George Zimmerman Unprotected By Self-Defense Law in Trayvon Martin Killing, Florida Lawmakers Say

Republican state lawmakers in Florida responsible for a controversial 2005 self-defense law said it shouldn't apply to a neighborhood watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old, in February.

Police in Sanford, Fla., declined to charge George Zimmerman, 28, saying they lack evidence refuting his claim of self-defense in the fatal confrontation. Under the 2005 law, called Stand Your Ground, Florida residents can use lethal force against an attacker if they believe their life is threatened, regardless of the location.

In recorded calls to police, Zimmerman describes following Martin in his car and calls him 'suspicious.' A dispatcher tells him not to pursue Martin, but Zimmerman persists. In statements to police, Zimmerman claimed that Martin then attacked him and he shot the teenager in self-defense, police said.

Martin weighed nearly 100 pounds less than Zimmerman and was found carrying only a bag of Skittles candy and a can of iced tea. Police said that without evidence proving that Zimmerman attacked Martin first, they had no grounds to charge him with a crime.

Dennis Baxley, a Republican state representative and co-author of the 2005 self-defense law, said Zimmerman negated his ability to claim immunity under the law by chasing Martin.

"This law is for innocent, law-abiding citizens who are under attack by a perpetrator," Baxley told The Huffington Post. "Anyone who is out pursuing and confronting people is not protected by this statute."

"I think they need to go back and read the statute," Baxley said, referring to the Sanford Police Department.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/21/george-zimmerman-trayvon-martin-_n_1371171.html
 
This is on nightline right now on channel 7 for IL peeps...so sad and I agree that guy who shot the kid should fry for what he did! horrible!
 
mama22angels said:
I hadn't heard about this until today when I saw mrsmelton's pic on her facebook.I thought it was her sons pic as it was a beautiful young boy who appeared to be about 15. I then heard about this on the news. SO ridiculously sad and so NOT self defense.
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Thank you for searching and finding more info...that is why the picture is there.

I am going to say this and let the pieces fall where they may.
First Newsflash: I'm Black! I know...I know, you never even thought it. Who would? the little girl in my avatar picture is just the African baby we adopted to be more like a celebrity.

I listen to a lot around these parts and I know my place (because that is what any good Black person knows...we are taught very early in life to know our place in order to become anything and be anyone). I walk a thin line when something about race is mentioned on CW, I don't ever start the topic and I know that no matter what I say, if I happen to say anything in the world half way decent about President Obama, it will be overlooked because I am black and obviously Black people all just do the same thing and don't think about what is going on, we just all say we are Black and whatever Blacks say, we do (oh wait that's the democrats and republicans...but I digress)
Today, as the mother of a potential Trayvon Martin, the aunt of one, the wife of one, I can't stay in my place, so put me on your ignore list, call me names, send some PMs about me, and ignore any trade requests I post....I will survive.
I really don't know what it is like to be a black male in America, I have a son, I have a husband, I have a father (yep, I actually have one of those) I have uncles, nephews, and a brother. I hear them say things, I see things happen, but I don't know first hand. I do know that when my husband got pulled over in his company car because we were visiting friends in a nice little suburban area and we were followed to have the plates ran they figured the big black man must have stole the MINI-VAN (yeah because that is what you steal and put kids and a woman in the car to make it look like you really own it) that he was driving since it was registered to a company, that I had the chance to see a bit of the fear and the way my husband had to become a little boy a "yes sir, no sir, thank you for shining the light on my kids and having my wife pushed up against a van while I lay on the ground, and never telling me why" little boy (wow, that was a long run-on, but don't feel like trying to figure out the punctuation right now). I was so crazy and thinking that we had overcome the race issue that I had the nerve to be trying to call the police on the police when this whole thing started...that is how I had to get out the car...I don't know what I was doing since of course reaching for my cell phone is ground for death in many cases.
But see, I thought that we were adults over 30 years old in the family car, listening to sports radio, just finished singing some Yo Gabba Gabba with the toddler and things were fine, so different that when we were in college and had to take that drive from Indianapolis, In to Bloomington, In and when if you were black, you knew to have your girlfriend, cousin, someone with longer hair drive the car while you were in the back seat to make sure you weren't pulled over at night. Because you see, somehow I had convinced myself that that back then was because we were young, listening to hip hop, on the road at night. That that time we had everything thrown across the highway as our car was searched was because the music was too loud with the windows down on the highway where there were no houses. So obviously now that we are respectable adults, with 4 college degrees between us, tithing, marriage ministry leaders, volunteers in the community, we are safe now...

The thing is that sadly simply being a black person, especially a black male is sometimes enough to not be safe and this week I had to sit down with my son and explain this too him. I had to have a talk with him where I tell him no matter what he achieves and what he does in life, no matter who he becomes he will only be a **** to some people. That he has to have his hair neat and cleanly cut at work, while his coworker can have purple hair, because longer hair, any design, color, etc is threatening looking. That he has to realize where he is and he has to understand that sometimes it is about saving his life and if he wants to stay alive he has to think and think fast and never even think about complaining, reaching for a pack of gum, reaching to cut off the car, asking a question. When my DH teaches him about driving, part of his lesson is how to get out of a car when the police pull you over. Right in between the talk on how to adjust the rear view mirror and always wear your seatbelt has to be the talk on how to open a door with your hand completely visible and to never let your hand out of their sight.

So Ennui, it actually doesn't surprise me that there is no talk of Trayvon Martin here, because it is not like it is major news when a black kid dies and sadly as the mother of a black boy, almost a man I am so fearful for his life on many days. Do you know how often he is questioned and not the other kids (who happen to be Caucasian) when his is out during the day at various homeschooling activities? But I am not even scared of him visiting friends now who live in predominately white areas, or brown, red or black areas for that matter. But he has plenty of friends who live in gated little communities, because he really does think he lives in a color blind world, as does his friends. But what if my son was visiting his friend who he just spent the weekend with not to long ago, great family, great neighborhood, great kid...but let's say that my son and his friend walked to the store and my son loves iced tea, he loves candy...so on the way back to the house his friend has to go to the bathroom and my son wants some gum. He tells his friend to go ahead home and he will run back to the store and get the gum...it's just down the street.

And now this black boy is walking down the street and he is not even from this area and hey in many of those gated communities all the houses look the same so he is walking a little slow trying to remember where the house is, what turn to make and then he is on the phone with a friend and he notices a guy is watching him and might be following him. He tells his friend that he thinks he is being followed and his friend says to run. He is a boy (who is almost a man and therefore proud and stubborn to the core like all men) and he says he is not going to run, but he will just walk fast to get back to the house, he puts the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and walks faster. The guy he thought might be following him is definitely following him now because he is speeding up, so he runs...somehow in the next few moments he struggles with the guy and the phone hits the concrete and that is the last I know for sure because the call is dropped when the phone breaks. But then a neighbor hears the struggle and calls police and I get to hear my son's last words, I get to hear him scream "help" on a 911 tape and them I hear the shot, the shot that killed him because he looked suspicious and it was all self-defense because only someone guilty would run from a stranger who is chasing them and the only way that this 250 lb 28 year old man could defend himself against my 140lb teenage son was to shoot him. And to add insult to injoury the police even overlook the phonecalls and the pleading for talking more to them by one of their witnesses to explain that this was not self defense

This is my reality...this is the reality of my son and I actually found myself thanking God this week that I only have 1 son and the other 2 are girls because at least there is just 1 to worry about.
 
Mrs Melton I am sitting here at work crying. That is so sadly true of our society. I often drive down 95th street in Evergreen and every time I do there are at least 2 cars pulled over by the cops.NEVER have I seen a white male or female.always a black male. I even commented to my daughter that if I was a black male I wouldn't even drive down 95th street as the chances of getting pulled over are about 100%. I don't know the solution but I am so sad that this happens.
 
Lotsacoups said:
Mrs Melton I am sitting here at work crying. That is so sadly true of our society. I often drive down 95th street in Evergreen and every time I do there are at least 2 cars pulled over by the cops.NEVER have I seen a white male or female.always a black male. I even commented to my daughter that if I was a black male I wouldn't even drive down 95th street as the chances of getting pulled over are about 100%. I don't know the solution but I am so sad that this happens.
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This reminded of something that happened to my late dh. He was taking a look at a side job either in Oak Lawn or Evergreen Park, it has been a long time. He had been parked on the street and was surroned by a few squad cars. He told me that the woman that he was talking to never came out and said anything. They checked his plates and ran what ever they needed and he came back clean. They let him go. He was routinely pulled over in Blue Island because of his last name. About two years ago he and his brother on seperate occassions were driving the car registered to me and they were both pulled over. Since the car is in my maiden name I was very surprised they didn't do more to them, but ask who I was, gave them their speeding tickets, and they were on there way.

Such a sad situation.
 
I too wasn't really aware of this until I saw the picture mrsmelton posted on facebook. The whole thing is just horrifying. I want someone to stalk and chase down Zimmerman so he can know what it feels like. It just makes me so sick that **** like this happens.

Mrsmelton, I have always found you to be someone who questions and learns about things before taking a position, not just someone who does what any particular group says. I value your viewpoint and I think CW would be poorer without it.

I am so sorry that you and your DH have had to go through things like that. I am so sorry your little ones have had to witness that. It makes me sad and angry that these things still go on.
 
I hadn't really heard about this until last night at dinner, when my mom was talking about it, crying, because she didn't understand how the killer was walking free and how does a mother of a young, beautiful, good kid go on from here. Mrs Melton08, thank you for your post.
 
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