Not Guilty, Not Innocent

So unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the Trayvon Martin case. But just in case here is a short recap:
 On February 26, 2012 17 year-old Trayvon Martin (TM) was walking home from the store. 28 year old George Zimmerman (GZ) saw TM and made the assumption that TM was up to no good. So he called 911, reported a suspicious person in his subdivision and then followed TM through the subdivision. When he thought TM might get away from him, instead of waiting for the police to arrive as he was instructed, he grabbed his weapon and followed him on foot. He caught up, and while we don't know the truth of who started the fight, we are 100% certain who ended it. GZ fired a shot that left TM dead only blocks from his home. And over a year later, on June 24, 2013 the trial began. And last night, after 16 hours of deliberation the jury came back with a verdict of "Not Guilty" 

Ok so now you're all caught up. Some people are outraged that he won't serve any jail time. That while TM is 6 ft under, GZ has the opportunity to return to a semi-normal life with his wife. He can go on to have children of his own if they choose to. And what does the family of Trayvon Martin have? Memories of their son. A young man who was not perfect but still had time to make something wonderful out of his life. They also have LOVE. And they have it in spades judging by the statements the family has made. Not once have they said a bad word about GZ. They have done nothing but request a fair trial (which they feel they received) and request that we all respect the memory of their son by being peaceful. By not reacting to the verdict with violence. 

My opinion - Based on the evidence the jury was asked to consider, the verdict was spot on. But living in a world where it's acceptable to shoot an unarmed person that you have essentially picked a fight with is scary. And no matter what the jury decided, GZ is now and will always be a murderer. He made a series of choices that night that led to him being the sole cause of the death of a young man who was doing nothing more than walking home. And since TM is dead, we only have the words of GZ to go on. I don't really want to go into the race aspect of this case. I personally feel that going there does no good for anyone. Many people feel that it's open season on black men. Perhaps it seems that way. And perhaps it really is. But we need to focus on the violence within our community. Where our young men of color are wiping each other out daily. That said, I'm going to leave you with this LONG but worth it message a friend of mine posted on his facebook page. 

"I purposely didn’t respond when the verdict was read. I just said wow. It was all I could say. Now, after reading hundreds of facebook statuses of family members, friends, frat brothers, sorors, and fellow Greeks, I can respond.

I believe in my heart that Black America will do nothing behind this. We talk a good game but in the end, we don’t do anything. In 4 months we will all be hypnotized by the NFL and joking full swing about my team versus your team. Last night’s verdict will be in the rear view mirror.

With that, I would like to offer a plausible and possible solution. Out of the hundreds of statuses that I read, this was the only one that made any sense to me. Boycotting Florida is ridiculous. Nobody at Tropicana shot Trayvon Martin. Nobody at Disney elected to set George Zimmerman free. There are thousands of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Caucasian Americans who are in the struggle who work for the state of Florida, Tropicana, Disney and other traditional Florida businesses. Financially boycotting Florida is nonsense. The suggestion that makes sense to me is to establish a Political Action Committee (PAC) which can appeal the stand your ground law by creating legislation to tear it down. We can then institute laws that better protect the young people in our communities.

A PAC requires strong financial backing. I am a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. There are well over 100,000 Alphas who have been initiated into this fraternity. There are well over 50,000 members of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority in Washington DC right now. There were tens of thousands of AKAs in DC in 2008. There will be thousands of Sigmas and Zetas in DC in 12 months for the Sigma Centennial. If you were to add the total active members of the Greek organizations alone, the numbers are astronomical. If each member gave $10, we could make a resounding impact toward this effort. If you add concerned citizens who are not members of a Greek Letter Organization but want to see real change, substantial financial backing can be obtained. Money talks.

I am not a lawyer. I would love for someone with a legal background and practice to help put this together. We need a website, a petition, and a means to collect funds. Who will spearhead this? I’m in to help in any way I can. Are you? Or will you go march and then turn the game on?" Darius G.