A Stand for Trayvon Martin

The 10 year-old Black boy in this picture is my son Jessiah Lucien. In 7-years he could easily be Trayvon Martin. By the Grace of God I hope he never has to be. Jessiah has his back against a blanket that reads the Serenity Prayer in it's entirety. #RIPTrayvon, there is not a mother of a Black son in this country that will ever sleep the same at night again until we as a nation bring your killer to justice. Your murder forces the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr's words to ring with fire in all of our ears. I have been forced to open my history books and to re-read the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. Not because this is an issue of slavery but because there has been a violation of Civil Rights here within a country that has never fully embraced the world equality after the abolishment of slavery. Yes, the history books are needed for my mind to go back to a time when I didn't even exist as I try to grapple why ignorance wasn't abolished in 1865 with slavery. My mind also has to grapple why a young man has been murdered and why his killer is free. My Country is said to be an oasis of freedom and justice yet there seems to be somewhat of an imbalance as to how it's all devied up. It's easy to sit down it's much more difficult to stand. I've always preferred to stand. The legal system in America is failing. When there is no STANDARD as to how we handle any particular event i.e. murder, we have failed. God help this Country *sighs*.

~What you will read next is the rawness of the emotions that I have held onto for more than a month~

Before I continue I would just like to take this opportunity to ask the Lord that I serve to please continue to shine his Grace on Trayvon's parents. Their Strength has come directly from the Source because it has been undying. God Bless the Country that I call my home. In 2012, a Black teenager is killed because racial profiling still exists in my country and with the rate of technology this blows my mind. We are a Smart Nation that does really dumb things. 36 days ago a mother and father had to hear the words that no parent ever wants to hear while we are still amongst the living (Sass, God Bless you because this brings my heart to you). They learned the fate of their child that simply went to the store to the local store to by candy & a drink. A familiar action that children of all races do routinely and repetitively. I have been silent for 36 days because this pill wasn't easy to swallow. God will wake a nation up when it falls asleep. How is it that Martin Luther King Jr. stood in Washington, D.C. in 1963 to deliver his, "I Have a Dream" speech and this is where we are today? Shame on us because we are the nation that makes the Heavens cry with our ignorance. Race in this country is equivalent to unruly tension. This was not the dream MLK envisioned for us. The dream he spoke of clearly stated, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character". Racism is ugly. Racism causes people to do ugly things. Racism has broken the heart of my Brown skin many of times. Stereotyping is a form of racism no matter how calm the manner. We have failed on the footsteps of the stone that our country stands on...Freedom. We have failed. We have all failed. There are still homeowners/tenants in the South that use the word "nigger" as if it was as common as the word soap. As much as I would like to stay neutral and in the "safe-zone" on this post I'm going to follow the tugging of my heart and stand tall for Trayvon Martin. I am not going to sugarcoat that there is not racism within all groups of people be that White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and others but that is not my focus here. A 17 year-old Black teenager has been murdered because he was wearing a hoodie and fit the "profile", of what his civilian killer associated with a criminal. We will not sweep this one under the rug. We will not let 6-months go by and retreat back into our homes. This killing was a wake-up call.

I believe God sacrificed Trayvon for several reasons mainly to wake us up and to spare many. Our sons may have a chance because of the inexplicable tragedy the Martin family just had to endure. Lack of justice in a Florida Law Enforcement Agency brings to light failure. Unity is a word that we can embrace as individuals and we can love one another in God's image. That's an image that bypasses color or creed. As we seek justice and answers we look to the Government, which backs the United States Constitution built on "By the People For the People. We are not looking for an intervention that will take years. We are looking for an intervention to happen speedily. The People say we need justice now. We are looking to cash in on the Civil Rights our ancestors fought so hard to see us experience.

Here are the stone cold facts. George Zimmerman, discriminated against Trayvon Martin the minute he spotted him and determined that he didn't "belong" in the neighborhood that he was watching. This was a direct violation of Trayvon's Civil Rights. George Zimmerman, treated Trayvon Martin unfairly before he ever killed him which once again was a violation of his Civil Rights. Self-Defense should not be something a person in this country can claim when they go looking for a confrontation with a person that has given no reasonable cause. Self-Defense should never be considered a possibility when a child ends up dead at the hands of an adult man. Gun toting for civilians that haven't passed extensive psychological examinations should be prohibited. Social injustice makes me cringe and I have said that on many occasions here. If my country doesn't take action quickly I will begin to wonder what justice means? I will eventually have to teach my young son what justice will mean for him. If justice stands for "just behavior" then 36 days ago George Zimmerman would have been settling into his new jail cell where he would remain for at minimum the next 25 years of his life.

~My deepest sympathy, condolences and prayers to Trayvon Martin's family & friends. I see nothing more than a very handsome young man that had the right to live a full and safe life. You will have all of our support in making sure that George Zimmerman does not slip through the infringement we sometimes see in our law system.

To those of you still living in a Black and White America I pray these events are enough to snap you out of your own blissful ignorance. Color splashes throughout America and we are a Beautiful nation because of it. We have so much to offer as creative, talented, beautiful butterflies of God. Put racism to rest by beginning with yourself and then spreading the message to your friends. It is not ok to judge anyone by their race, creed, ethnicity etc. It's not ok to call people names. It's not ok to follow anyone because you "think" they may be up to something and especially when you're justifying your thought process based on a person's skin color or their age. We are the World & that should be the only thing you take to bed with you at night. Sweet thoughts of the positive contributions that you can make to the world you live in.

God Bless You All!

Much Luv