While many Brown students enjoyed the long anticipated Spring Break resting, relaxing, and finding some peace of mind, Providence citizens gathered to disturb the peace.
On Friday, March 30th, about 50 to 70 people gathered at Central High School for a march in honor of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year old teenager recently shot and killed in Florida. Residents rallied against racial violence in the United States and the lack of justice in the Trayvon Martin case.
Information about the Providence march spread throughout the community via sources like Facebook and word of mouth in a very “grassroots” method of organization. A Facebook invite sent to over 1,000 members of the Rhode Island community instructed participants to wear hoodies or all black. “George Zimmerman has not been charged with any crime,” the invite stated. “Outraged? You’re not alone.”
And these outraged citizens certainly were not alone. Iman Jenkins, 20, a participant at the Friday march observed that these supporters, many of them male-bodied individuals, congregated in black attire, with their hoods up and mouths covered in black bandanas, to form a cohesive group standing up for Trayvon Martin. Carrying signs with proclamations like “RACISM KILLS,” “R.I.P. TRAYVON MARTIN,” and “NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE,” protestors marched around downtown Providence for an hour and a half. A discussion and film screening followed the march.
Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, was shot and killed on February 26, by self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, George Zimmerman. Calls to 911 released days after the incident revealed that Zimmerman saw Martin wearing a hooded sweatshirt and walking through a gated community in Sanford, FL., and that Zimmerman pursued Martin because he thought the youth looked suspicious. When Martin was found dead and Zimmerman spotted standing over him with a gun later that night, Zimmerman claimed he shot the boy in self-defense. In spite of Zimmerman’s assertion, Martin had been “armed” with only a bottle of iced tea and a bag of Skittles. Zimmerman, however, was not arrested.
News about the Trayvon Martin case has developed much faster than any form of legal justice. Enraged by how the Sanford police department “bungled the investigation into the shooting death of Trayvon Martin,” (1) various groups organized around the United States to advocate for Zimmerman’s arrest. From New York City’s “Million Hoodie March”, to a similar rally in Sanford, FL., Americans joined together to show support for the Martin family and to remind police officials that the people were paying attention to this case.
Although news sources maintain that George Zimmerman is still in hiding, and the Sanford police department has not issued a warrant for Zimmerman’s arrest yet, the Providence community, as well as residents throughout the United States, is not taking the Trayvon Martin case sitting down. They have proven that until Trayvon Martin and his family receive justice, there will be no peace.
Source:
1.) “Trayvon Martin Case: Timeline of Events.” ABC News. March 2012. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/trayvon-martin-case-timeline-of-events/>
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Brown chapter.