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NORWALK, Conn. – The Rev. Cathy Jones stood in front of about 200 people in South Norwalk on Saturday, talking to God. "Father, we come because there is justice that needs to be done, Father," she said. "One of your young sons had to die, Father, for us to come together, for us to speak out."
South Norwalk 'March for Justice' April 7, 2012
Jones' opening prayer at Grace Baptist Church followed chants of "What do we want? Justice. When do we want it? Now." The chant had been repeated over and over again by the crowd as they marched from Calvary Baptist Church, less than a mile away.
Walkers were participating in what was called a "March for Justice" held in support of the late Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old who was fatally shot Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., by George Zimmerman, a man keeping watch over the neighborhood Martin was visiting. Zimmerman has not been arrested.
The march, with police escort, was followed by a rally at Grace Baptist.
"Everything that we see says that Zimmerman is guilty," said the Rev. Lindsay Curtis, pastor at Grace Baptist. "He, like anyone else, deserves a trial. That's what we want, a trial. We don't want him walking around as if he has done nothing. For too long, black life has not meant much."
Curtis said his heart was broken. "In this country, for too long, it remains a shame that it is difficult to drive, walk, even sit sometimes while black," he said.
"Racism is still on the rise, so we must take a stand, but most of all we must come together," said the Rev. Nellie Mann, who organized the march and rally.
Curtis said he other pastors had gotten many e-mails and phone calls, and he is proud of his community.
"We have never been hurt as deeply as we are right now," he said. "We have had much happen in our city that we have had to be reactive to, but for once we get to be proactive. ... This is not a message to our mayor. This is not a message to our police. This is a message to our community that this ought not, should not, could not, ever happen here."
"In Norwalk 2012, we're going to be one of the first communities to say out loud that we are graduating from 'We Shall Overcome,' " said the Rev. Ken Dubose, a reference to the rallying cry from the 1960s civil rights movement. "Why? Because we are ready to overcome with the realization that we have more work to do."
"Let's strive to be part of the solution," said the Rev. Jeffery Ingraham of Calvary Baptist. "We will hold the mayor, we will hold the Police Department responsible. But we will do our part."
Comments (11)
JREY
You seem convinced that Trayvon, in fact, attacked Zimmerman. If that were true, it could justify Zimmerman's self defence story and make him immune from arrest under FL's "stand your ground" law. He has now been arrested, charged with 2nd degree murder, which sounds like the special prosecutor, like the investigating officers, found his story NOT credible.
There was a lot about that story that didn't sound right. An adult kills somebody, then claimed an assault and a broken nose and other injury, but was not brought to an emergency room and no injuries were documented. Does that make sense to you ? It didn't to the cops nor the special prosecutor a month later.
We don't know the facts of the case. Perhaps those pointing fingers and saying Zimmerman was acting on preconceived notions should think about why he may have felt that way.
Watch this: http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/04/07/Crowd-Laughs-As-Man-Beaten-In-Balt
What I do know, is that when a group of thugs attacks a innocent and defenseless pedestrian, beats him to the ground, smashes his head on the cement, steals all his belongings and strips him of his clothes...it is repulsive. And when others watch and laugh when it is being done, well, if that is not savage and subhuman, I don't know what is. If that is not a hate crime, there is no such thing.
Trayvon may be dead for a lot of reasons. If Zimmerman was unprovoked, perhaps those crying wolf should at least for a moment contemplate that his bias and fear were driven by behavior such as that displayed in the Breitbart story.
donkeybuster
Agree with you that we don't know the facts of the case, but it's really inappropriate to point to "savage and subhuman" behavior by a tiny fraction of a particular race when we're having a conversation about the tragic death of somebody's son, especially when the conversation is already overheating with racial rhetoric. Those crazy white guys who were randomly killing black people and got arrested over the weekend also displayed "savage and subhuman" behavior, but that doesn't justify preconceived notions about the entire white race, does it?
Saying "think about why preconceived notions may be justified" in response to someone who is saying "my son was killed due to preconceived notions" is hostile and offensive. We should be looking for healing rather than an argument.
Old Timer
I agree that it was inappropriate for Zimmerman to patrol the neighborhood with a licensed, loaded weapon as a self-appointed Neighborhood Watch Captain.
Ultimately though, if Zimmerman's claim that he was attacked as he was walking back to his truck is true, it will never be possible to prove that the shooting was other than self defense. Where will we be then?
The first tragedy was Trayvon Martin's death. The second tragedy is that the subsequent outrage is dividing us along racial lines based on incomplete information and, in some cases, outright falsehoods.
The media continue to show tremendous irresponsibility and should be held to account for same. An NBC news editor altered audio of Zimmerman's 911 call to make it sound like Zimmerman called police and reported that a young black man was walking in the neighborhood. We later learned that Zimmerman only mentioned race in response to a question by the dispatcher. The editor was fired for his actions, but the damage was already done. The media reported that Zimmerman was told not to follow Martin, but then we learned that the dispatcher simply told Zimmerman in a neutral tone "we don't need you to do that" in a neutral tone that was far from a direct order. The media announced that video of Zimmerman at the Police Station showed no injuries to the back of his head, then the media performed digital enhancement to the same video and announced that maybe there was injury to the back of his head after all. Then the media hired voice analysis experts who determined that the screams for help on the 911 call could not have been Zimmerman's. As if all this were not enough, the media then published the name of a 12-year old boy who witnessed part of the incident.
All of this amounts to a public trial based on incomplete evidence, and serves no purpose other than to fuel a dialogue between extremists who pick and choose which facts support their side. On one side is Al Sharpton shouting that there's no justice for African Americans, and the Black Panthers offering a bounty for Zimmerman's capture, and on the other is a group of KKK members patrolling the streets of Sanford with loaded weapons and telling the media that they're doing so "in case of a race riot". As a society I really thought we were better than all of this.
Sitting here in Norwalk CT, and not having been present at the time of the incident, I don't know what happened. Neither does anybody else who wasn't there, and it's clear that the information we are getting from the media is incomplete and unreliable. The reasonable thing to do would be to let the TWO state and federal investigations proceed to their conclusion, which I'm sure will reveal many more details than those we have learned to date. If the investigations determine that Zimmerman should have been prosecuted, then by all means let's have an arrest and a trial.
In the meantime, we can reflect on why it is that one's race seems to be the largest predictor of how one feels about this case. Most whites seem inclined to believe Zimmerman's story, probably because it's really uncomfortable for them to acknowledge that in this day and age racism can still lead to wrongful deaths. Meanwhile most African-Americans, who themselves have experienced racial slights at some point in their lives, jump to the conclusion that Trayvon Martin was shot simply for being black and wearing a hoodie. These knee-jerk conclusions are an unfortunate legacy of our shared past where racial injustice was commonplace. The only good that can come from this tragedy is to confront that legacy and talk about what we can do to become a people who don't jump to such knee-jerk conclusions on matters involving people of different races.
Old Timer - the chief of police and the chief prosecutor distanced themselves from the case exactly because of all the "falsehoodies" surrounding this incident. They did so to try to maintain the public safety and in response to all the false accusations and dangerous rhetoric being spewed by the race- baiters. Now that they did, and turned the investigation over to outsiders they get criticized again. When Rev. Al and Jesse show up and the likes of Maxine Waters speak up to incite violence, and no one complains about it, then it seems to me that demonstrates how far from reality this whole discussion has traveled.
This is about the turmoil & spotlight, nothing more. Its disgusting really. Anytime a person uses a gun to defend themselves or a young person dies we forget the reality of our lives. Take a quick look at whos shooting & committing violent crime & ask yourself who you would be afraid of on a dark rainy night in Norwalk... Life & reality dont care about PC, I wasnt there & the guys who were decided to let a grand jury decide. That is justice, what we have here is knee jerk foolishness. As I said earlier, how many of you are ready to recant the assaults on Zimmermans character IF he ends up being vindicated? Its easy to jump into the mob of acusation, but all these self righteous people just clam up when they are wrong. Remember Tawana Brawley? I do, but I dont remember any apologies when she turned out to be lieing.
17 tear olds kill people every day, no reason to say Zimmermans lieing based on Trayvon's age or that he only had skittles & a phone. One thing I keep asking is why didnt HE call 911 if he was a scared kid?
Me, I'll just wait & see what the court says & accept that.
No, the kid was not scared. He was one angry thug. He was suspended from school for marijuana possession, his tweeter account/comments showed how violent the kid was.
Any of us that have had 17 yr old sons knows the fear that something bad will happen. !7 yr old boys are not famous for good judgement. Most of us are lucky enough to get past that time without serious problem. Some are not. What happened to Trayvon could happen anywhere, to any of our sons. The danger is greater in places where young men carry guns without training and feel a need to use a gun to prove their manhood.
Trayvon could have been any of our sons. Somebody should be held accountable. Zimmerman may never have had an intention to murder, but Trayvon is dead. If he had died in an accident caused by someone's reckless use of a car, there would, without question, have been an arrest. Why not in this case ? There may be a reason, but, if there was, I doubt if both the chief of police and the chief prosecutor would have distanced themselves from the case so quickly.
I agree, somebody should be held accountable. Treyvon was angry at Zimmerman for following him, and the kid started attacking Zimmerman. I blame Treyvon for his own death. You don't physically attack someone simply because you feel you're being followed. It's not illegal to follow someone. PI's do that all the time. Too bad for Treyvon, the other guy had a gun with him. The kid is dead now instead of being in jail for attacking Zimmerman to death. Don't worry about your 17-year old boy, as long as you don't teach him to attack anyone who appears to have been following him.
Why not in this case, you ask? It's illegal for anyone to drive recklessly, but it's not illegal for anyone to legally carry a licensed handgun. That's the answer to your question.
To carry, yes, to kill someone because he "looked suspicious" and reacted badly when confronted by someone without authority, no, even in states with a "stand your ground" law, it is not OK to kill people. Trayvon Martin was the one standing his ground.
I expect there was no assault, no punches, nothing more than a stupid verbal confrontation, except Zimmerman was pointing a gun and it went off. The assault/self defence story was made up, after the shot was fired, in an effort to avoid arrest.
Now there has been an arrest for 2nd degree murder and we will see what happens.