Trayvon died after a trigger-happy neighborhood vigilante—who fantasized about becoming a police officer— gunned him down as he walked home. What was Trayvon’s crime? Wearing a hoodie and brandishing snack food—while black.
As the full impact of the tragedy sunk in, parents everywhere felt his family’s pain. (As a mother myself I cried that night, imagining one of my own children in his place.)
And as the story unfolded from his killer’s perspective, I felt outrage. How could a man armed with a gun, and in a vehicle, claim self-defense after he shot a child who was on foot, trying to get away. from him—and after he’d been instructed by police to wait? But claim it he did, and the jury believed him.
George Zimmerman “walked.” Something Travyon Martin never had a chance to do.
Because no matter how much we want to pretend that America has evolved, not much has changed since 1965, and the system of laws that are supposed to protect all of us have provided convenient cover for those wanting to lash out, exploit, and yes, even murder children of color.
Will you donate $25—or whatever you can afford—to help us fight for equality? We’re traveling to Selma, Alabama March 5-9, and we are $4500 short of our goal. Anything will help.
We’ll use your donation to produce handouts and cover travel expenses. Once there we’ll meet and strategize with faith leaders and activists as we retrace the steps of now-Congressman John Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and the hundreds of citizens who bravely marched across the Edmund Pettus bridge 50 years ago in defense of Civil Rights.
Nothing we can do will ever bring back Trayvon or any of the countless children and adults of color who have been killed in America by fellow citizens—or police—and never received justice.
But we can work to mobilize communities of color and people of conscience everywhere to work together for change. We can help write new laws state by state—ones that don’t let killers use lame justifications to avoid taking responsibility. And we can get them passed. Please help us continue the fight. We’ll be very grateful for whatever you can give.
