I have been trying to find the right words to express my deep sadness and concern with what occurred Saturday, July 13th, 2013. On this night, six jurors decided that it was OK for a man named George Zimmerman to shoot and kill a 17 year old teenager named Trayvon Martin.
I like EVERYONE who's followed the case, don't really know what happened that fateful night in 2012. The prosecution of the case doesn't really know, the defense doesn't really know, the jurors, the judge, the families of both Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman don't really know. Two people know what truly happened that night, one died the other was just set free after the senseless tragedy. I write this post because clearly there is a great deal of opinion on both sides of this issue. Many say, justice was served, Zimmerman was proven innocent, lets move on. To those individuals, I say, you are entitled to your thought process, but I wonder how much thought you truly put in it.
To those individuals I say, imagine if you can, your teenage son, walking home from the convenience store and somehow, doesn't make it back. Imagine if you will, your teenage son didn't get shot at the convenience store, he didn't get caught up in a robbery gone wrong, he didn't get shot outside your townhouse community, he didn't get shot somewhere he wasn't even supposed to be. Imagine if you will, your teenage son, got shot within your "safe" community because in essence, he was a young man, who simply "LOOKED" like he didn't belong. I repeat, he "looked" like he didn't belong.
Now, I am not naive. I too have been somewhere, noticed an individual and said to myself, hmm.... should I be concerned? That is human nature, especially at night. So I am not going to blame Mr. Zimmerman for trying to be a concerned citizen... if that is what he truly felt he was being. I won't blame him for wondering, should this individual be in my community, especially since the community has had an issue or two in the past. However, I do hold Mr. Zimmerman accountable for the actions he took in the name of being a so-called concerned citizen. You see, I don't have an issue with him calling 911, that is what a concerned citizen does. But what a concerned citizen DOES NOT do, is then dismiss the advice of 911 and decide, I will take matters into my own hands. What a concerned citizen does not do is follow a so-called perpetrator to what, engage him? What a concerned citizen DOES NOT do is decide, I am a hero like in the movies.... because when the UNTRAINED, concerned citizen takes matters into his own hands,... unlike the movie the Dark Knight, or Die Hard... .there is no director calling, scene cut. When the bullet leaves the chamber, it's not a blank, and the recipient of blank shot does not get up and go back to his acting trailer.
When the concerned citizen takes matters into his own hands he shoots a 17 year old in the heart and kills him. He kills a 17 year old who was actually, headed home, and heaven forbid, while heading home, he took his time because he was talking with friend on the phone. Heaven forbid, a 17 year old, actually acted like a 17 year old. People are saying the jurors did as they were instructed and we should leave it at that. I would be fine with that except for one big thing.... even the jurors admitted, George Zimmerman went to far... I repeat, the jurors felt Zimmerman went to far (juror B37) which leads me to ask, then how is it that George Zimmerman was still found innocent? How exactly does that work? You had the option of manslaughter if you didn't feel Zimmerman had every intention TO kill. Maybe it's true, maybe things just got out of hand, the two fought and he fired his weapon, that still doesn't mean you are innocent. A person is dead because of your actions and there needs to be a legal price paid for the life you took.
As a black woman, this touches home for me. I have an older brother who I know for a fact has gotten that look from people. I have an older brother who people wondered what's he up to, when all he was doing was walking to the car, leaving the grocery store taking a walk around his neighborhood while talking on the phone simply because, it was a nice night and he wanted to take a walk. I would also love to think, that the stereotypes are as simple as black and white, but they aren't.
Allow me to digress from the topic to share this story. When my brother was a senior in high school he and his friends somehow got my parents to host their Prom Night dinner. My dad was an excellent cook and wanted to do something special for his only son. So the plans were made, a menu was set, decorations purchased. I was the hostess for the evening. When the young celebratory teens arrived at our house for the dinner, as I was closing the door, the limo driver for the evening, who was black, came in. He made a whole lot of assumptions on this particular night. You see, we lived in what is a nice part of town; good schools, nice neighborhood, good place to grow up. Nothing extravagant by any means, but nonetheless, he didn't believe, black people lived in this part of town. So when he saw me answer the door, he ASSUMED, I worked there. The assumptions continued, as he made his way into the kitchen, he saw my mom and dad working hard trying to get the dinner plates together. Again, he assumed, they were the hired help. He even at one point pressed my mom for a cup of coffee when she had some time. His assumptions continued to the point where I guess he picked one of the guys in the group and decided this house, must have been his house, and said to him something like, it's really nice of your parents to host this party for you kids (that young man's parents had come by to take pictures and help out). Needless to say the limo driver was stunned when the kid told him, I don't live here, he does, pointing to my brother. The limo driver found himself apologizing a couple of different ways because at one point he had the audacity to cop a bit of an attitude with my mom, for not moving fast enough to get him his cup of coffee (my mom was raised in the south and knows all about hospitality... the driver did get his cup of coffee with a smile as well).
My point to this story is, when you make assumptions, like the saying goes, you make an ASS out of U and ME, tragically, for Trayvon Martin, an assumption by George Zimmerman, left that 17 year old dead. I don't know Trayvon Martin, I don't know George Zimmerman, but I do know that intentionally or NOT, George Zimmerman did in fact kill Trayvon Martin, he shot him dead, and Trayvon Martin was not stealing, was not breaking and entering, was not performing a criminal act. Trayvon Martin seemingly fought for himself, stood his ground and somehow in standing his ground, he was in the wrong, while the man with a gun was in the right. It's not right.
Our legal system was put to the test and unfortunately, the legal system failed. I appreciate that the system was allowed to work, but the system is broken and I would love to have a conversation on how to fix it. My son is two years old, just two years old and my heart is so full of love for him, it nearly brings me tears every night when I kiss him goodnight. For me to advance that love 15 years forward, I know it will only grow... I would be devastated if I lost my son, as I am certain Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin are devastated with the loss of their son. What would only hurt more, is if there were no justice served in the loss of my son as has been the case here. I applaud these two people, because in what must seem like the darkest of days, they have remained above the fray. They have not lashed out, they have not spewed hatred, they have leaned on their faith and love of their child. They have shown their heart.
Now, I recognize that George Zimmerman's life will never be the same again, he will likely deal with quite a bit of ugly moving forward but the one thing I truly hope he does, I truly hope he really looks within himself and truly asks himself, does he really feel his actions were righteous? Does he truly believe he is an innocent man in the first hand death of this teen? Only Mr. Zimmerman can speak to his own heart, he must face himself daily and I don't know how easy that will be for him. I will pray for him as well, not because I am a great christian, but because I know it is the christian thing to do. I am angry with Mr. Zimmerman, and I am angry with the system, but my anger won't help ANYTHING. I must look within myself and pray for this man, his family along with Trayvon's family. I must pray that after all of this, we might just be one step closer to ending these senseless, unnecessary and hurtful tragedies.
Dear God, please be with us all tonight, tomorrow and everyday after. Please help us find our way to being better in every way.
