On Friday March 25, 2012, the Southeast DC neighborhood of Anacostia came out over 300 strong in a vigil for the brutally slain Trayvon Martin. The crowd was intergenerational, multi-denominational, and BLACK.
The vigil was held at the Big Chair. Several elders from the community opened up the discussion as the crowd slowly grew. NBUF leader Salim Adofo led everyone in a chant paying reverence to Trayvon Martin. A few journalists were among the crowd, along with spiritual leaders. Adofo ended his welcoming statements with this Gil Scot Heron influenced message: “We don’t control ABC or CBS. It will not be televised.”
Surprisingly, unlike most demonstrations, the NBUF did not promote their organization heavily. The speakers focused on the tragedy of Trayvon’s death, and they asked for people to pray with the Martin family. As the sun went down on the big chair and candles were lit, more people gathered. Dozens of children could be seen in hoodies carrying skittles and iced teas. Also unlike many demonstrations, this one had an equal representation of men and women. A young Pan African student named Liane Robinson from New York traveled down for the vigil to stand in solidarity with the folks in Southeast. She was hopeful about the turnout, but warned participants: “don’t let the police divert you the way they diverted us [in New York].”
One young man named Carl Mcclinton delivered the most inspiring message of the night. He had a humble demeanor and a determined disposition. He was one of those rare public speakers who actually offer a practical, sustainable solution, rooted within the community. “We’re the ones getting abused everyday. We’re the ones getting locked up. I propose we need to meet at the big chair every Friday. We can’t keep waiting on them to kill us all.” His words touched me because they were forward thinking. His words were out of love for his people rather than hatred for others. Hopefully, we can move forward with this mentality. The sad truth, however, is that the so-called justice system, may force us out of character. Too many times, we get brutalized without any closure. Our community lives in a perpetual open wound that gets ashes dumped in it periodically. As a people, we generally tend to crave peace, but as one speaker from the vigil noted, it may be time for us to stop turning the other cheek and instead, “TOOL UP”.
On Monday at 4pm, the NBUF plans to hold a rally at the Department of Justice (1425 New York Ave NW DC, near the Metro Center metro and the P6, X2, and S2 busses). The purpose is to find out why Zimmerman hasn’t been arrested as well as why killing a Black child is ok.
Shauntrice L. Martin is the director of the Justice Resource Center and long time youth advocate. Shauntrice has taught in Belize, Trinidad & Tobago, and the Dominican Republic. She is originally from Louisville, Kentucky and currently works with youth to sustain social justice movements in the District and beyond.
Thank you for continuing to keep us informed, Shauntrice.
Good writing, but what does tool up mean? Maybe I’m slow. Or is that DC slang? I missed this particular event, but I was there Saturday and it was a good experience for me. It was the first time I’ve ever protested or anything like that. I’m about to be a senior in the Fall.
If any good comes out of these protests (such as the apprehension of Zimmerman or some other way of causing his downfall, (or even a movement to kick the police out of our communities!)), then I am all for it. However, right now, all I am seeing is Black people putting more money in to Mars, Inc. (the makers of Skittles) and whatever ice tea corporation.
If it makes you feel any better. I happen to know that many of these “kittles” and iced teas were non-monetarily procured.//..
This does make me feel a little bit better. Thank you.
I was at a similar march and rally in Baltimore yesterday (mulit-generational, multi-tendency and Black). My guess is about 3,000. The march in the street was powerful. but the organizers of the rally at City hall lost a great opportunity to provide direction, largely due to almost no sound system.
It has long been time to “tool-up”. We tooled up in the 70′s and actually made some changes. Anyone who knows history understand that it was angry black men carrying guns, unafraid to use them either against police or to make a withdrawal or two from their local community bank in advancement of their political interests. The system could not afford to have black men and women daring to defend themselves against the George Zimmerman’s, daring to look after our own without the dependency on the government, existing as a nation of people, daring to be revolutionaries.
To me it seems so counter-intuitive to repeatedly rely on a system that treats justice as a commodity to only afforded by the social elite. Can you image how many tens of thousands of dollars will be spent on the Martins behalf just to secure what they should have gotten free (due process).
Unlike my Amex card, I never leave home without it.
BTW, in the 70′s far too many of us traded our guns (e.g. Security) for posh jobs, big cars, political offices, home in the burbs, … the illusion of social progress. It’s fours decades later and we’re still looking for justice and security.
Wonder how much an atty. cost now a days… $250 hr., $500 hr., $800 hr. The longer we wait to take it the more expensive it gets. Damn inflation!!!
@Jus1 – I think you’re absolutely correct in your assessment. I have an aversion to violence and weapons, but even I see that doing it the “civil” way is getting us nowhere. We just continue to prop up the capitalist regime while they sit back and laugh.
@Patrick – I love Bmore. Bmore always comes out strong. I think we had a similar sound issue. That’s yet another reason we need to get organized.
@Question – wonderful news
@Mary – yea, someone handed me a bag of skittles to hold and I just wanted to eat them…it made me crave skittles and diverted me from the issue for a second. Plus, this is once again propping up capitalism rather than justice. (im sure hoodie stocks rose like crazy as well)
It’s funny how you can already tell the trajectory of the march when you see a preacher up on the podium.
Great article.
the negro sell-outs like al and barack etc. are trying to channel the outrage of the people away from the real solution. we forget our history, the Black Panthers taught us to “arm yourself or harm yourself” very simply what the black man needs to do is to organize ourselves, arm ourselves, and demand justice “by any means necessary” the entire system of racism/white supremacy must be destroyed.