As I sit here thinking about the not guilty verdict of the George Zimmerman trial, my heart is heavy with grief, sadness and anger.
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My grief is for the Martin family who had to effectively watch their son be murdered twice—once by Mr. Zimmerman and a second time by a system that refused to provide the justice they so desperately deserved.
I cannot imagine the pain of losing a son, but just the thought of it now brings tears to my eyes.
Right now, I simply want to say, “I’m sorry” to the Martin family. I’m sorry that you will not be able to see your son grow up to become the man you hoped he would be. I’m sorry that you had to endure the frustration, pain and humiliation of a trial that should not have been about your son, but about the man who took your son from you. I’m so sorry the system failed you, and my prayer is that you eventually get to a place of inner peace that comforts you and allows you to move on. My thoughts and prayers will always be with you.
♦◊♦
I’m deeply saddened by the fact that millions of young black males around the globe will now feel invalidated, disrespected and expendable—that their lives don’t matter. Too many of them will surrender to the implied message that they don’t count, and therefore they will submit to the negative media-generated stereotypes of gangstas and hoodlums.
I’m saddened that too many of them will lose hope and decide that the system is so stacked against them that they may as well succumb to a life of mediocrity and give up on any dreams that they have.
I’m deeply saddened by the fact that there are people who actually celebrated the verdict and did not feel any compassion for the family simply because the victim was a black male. How can they celebrate the loss of life?
How can they not feel the pain of the Martins’ loss?
That saddens me—in a country that has come so far in race relations, we still have not accepted the fact that we are all human beings that deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. No life is less valuable than any other, and our hearts should ache whenever anyone dies unnecessarily.
That is what hurts the most: Trayvon Martin’s death was unnecessary and preventable.
♦◊♦
I’m angry at a system that does not accept the fact that justice isn’t blind, and it still views black men as “less than” human, a system that thrives on incarcerating young black men and refuses to look at the fact that the majority of our young men that are incarcerated in fact did not commit any violent crimes. Very few of them have ever taken the life of another human being, yet the media-generated stereotype is that we are the ones who are violent, non-caring, and angry.
Despite this tragic situation, I still remain optimistic about the future for black men, because we epitomize faith, courage, strength and resiliency. We always have and always will bounce back from tragedy—this too shall pass.
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I’m angry that our media has turned this into a black-and-white issue, when the reality is George Zimmerman happens to be Hispanic. I’m angry at a media that glorifies violence and too many times focuses on the violence perpetuated by black men when neglecting the violence perpetuated by other races.
Right now I’m filled with the grief, sadness and anger. I allow myself to feel these feelings because I know that they will pass. As I allow them to flow through me, I realize how I can use them to not only ease my pain, but to do my part in removing some of the rage and sadness that is currently being felt around the globe.
First of all, I remove my grief for the Martin family by saying a silent prayer for them and surrendering to a power greater than myself. Secondly, I make sure that I tell my own children how much I love them, and I make sure that they understand that they have value in who they are. I let them know that we cannot allow the media to define us—despite what the media says, we are lovable, intelligent human beings who are no different than any other group.
I remove my sadness by accepting the fact that, despite every obstacle that has been placed in front of us as black men, we have overcome them. Despite this tragic situation, I still remain optimistic about the future for black men, because we epitomize faith, courage, strength and resiliency. We always have and always will bounce back from tragedy—this too shall pass.
I will take my anger and channel it into action. I will continue my mission of empowering men to embrace a new paradigm of masculinity that I believe can help eradicate a lot of the anger and unnecessary violence that permeates our culture. The root cause of all violence is the emotion of anger; when we teach men how to redirect that anger, we begin laying the foundation for the removal of all violent acts.
♦◊♦
It is now time to begin the healing process. Individually, we must heed the words of the great mystic Lao Tsu:
“If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself; if you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.”
I am committed to my own self-transformation, and my commitment is to empower other men to do the same.
Let the healing begin!
Photo: david_shankbone/Flickr
How about taking a break from “I’m angry at a system that does not accept the fact that justice isn’t blind, and it still views black men as “less than” human, a system that thrives on incarcerating young black men and refuses to look at the fact that the majority of our young men that are incarcerated in fact did not commit any violent crimes. ” and yelling ‘RACIST’ at Zimmerman and anyone else who doesn’t meet your standards, and talk about Chicago? “Over the roughly month-long period from the commencement of jury selection on June 10 to the announcement… Read more »
For the record, as I’ve said before, the morning of the shooting I have no doubt that Zimmerman got out of bed praying for the chance to shoot a negro, that he had no business approaching this child and feel that Martin should have choked Zimmerman into unconsciousness.
Now as to “What’s Next For Black Men?”- dozens will be shot and killed by other Black Men before another headline case occurs…
Your comments are evidence of a mind broken beyond repair.
You seem really worried about racism.
But the thing is, there is a whole flood of articles by African-American writers, placing ALL the blame on Zimmerman and white society, and NONE on Trayvon, even though he is the one who escalated it into a physical altercation, and HE is the one who pinned Zimmerman down so Zimmerman could not just escape, even if he wanted to.
So my question is. All these articles totally absolving Trayvon for his attack. Are they supposed to make us more favorable towards African-Americans? Because if so, you may want to re-think that strategy.
” I let them know that we cannot allow the media to define us—despite what the media says, we are lovable, intelligent human beings who are no different than any other group.” Does that include Zimmerman? Look at what ABC and NBC did to make Zimmerman appear to have said things he did not say, and to make it appear he was uninjured. Or is it different for him? On the most basic matter here, I’ll borrow from Althouse: “Here’s my response to what you just said. I think our society demonstrated great care toward Trayvon Martin, even to the… Read more »
I get preventable, but what makes you so certain it wasn’t necessary? Nobody except Zimmerman has any idea about the state of the fight at the moment Zimmerman got his gun out.
@ Will Best, Unnecessary because if Zimmerman didn’t have a gun the worst that would have happened would have been a fist fight which would have resulted in a bruised ego and a bloody nose. Although I did not watch the trial I have not heard either side of the lawyers mention that Trayvon had the “intent” to kill. He was simply trying to protect himself from someone who was “unnecessarily” following him. Since there was no intent to kill Zimmerman his murder was unnecessary.
The self defense argument from Zimmerman still does not justify murder.
Zimmerman was part of neighborhood watch and was WATCHING. That is it. That did not give Travyon the right to punch him in the face. If someone is following you, run to get away, ask him what he is doing, but don’t start violently attacking him.
So being pinned on the ground and being beaten into the pavement counts as a ‘fist fight’? So following and ambushing someone who was ON THE WAY BACK TO HIS CAR- which is what Martin did- counts as ‘trying to protect himself’? And nobody ‘deserves’ to have someone charged with a crime to assuage their feelings; not in a nation of laws. You want to change that, God help us. We now have the ‘Justice’ Department trying desperately to find SOMETHING to use as an excuse to act against Zimmerman so as to make some voters happy; do you really… Read more »
If that’s the case then I think the real issue is that people ought not be allowed to carry concealed weapons. That freedom is based on sound principles, but there’s no reason to think people will have a strong enough sense of self-government to handle it. I agree wholeheartedly that Zimmerman shouldn’t have had that gun on him. But, he wasn’t breaking the law in doing so. And I agree he shouldn’t have gotten out of his car. But there is simply too much doubt to go ahead and make the claim that he is guilty of murder. And whatever… Read more »
Yeah, couldn’t have been worse than a bloody nose, right?
Or maybe death?
http://www.elpasotimes.com/tablehome/ci_21843760/teen-accused-el-paso-officers-fatal-beating-indicted
“According to court documents, Molina suffered a fractured skull, internal head injuries and multiple facial fractures.”
From a 17-year-old ‘child’.
People die from the least injuries to the head all the time- that’s why OSHA & insurance carriers insist on hard hats. A hard hat won’t protect you from a falling pallet of bricks but it will help if someone drops a 3/4 nut from 20′.. That’s how my buddy suffered a broken shoulder- a football & lacrosse player and it broke his shoulder…
But that being said,,had Travon hit Zimmerman harder- it may very well,have saved his or another hoodie wearing kid’s life…
For the love of all that is holy Mr Taylor, can you please explain WHY you feel a guilty verdict would have provided the Martin family with “the justice they deserved?”
Hold the assumptions, please.
@Menkes, if you had a son that was senselessly taken away from you, would you not want the person who did it to take responsibility for doing so? Even if it was an accident the least the Martins deserved was an involuntary manslaughter charge. Thereby he would have been held accountable for taking someones life. His death was unnecessary and preventable yet he still refuses to take responsibility for his actions.
you think people should be charged based on levels of sympathy? that is crazy. Trayvon doubled back and punched Zimmerman in the face. Trayvon had ample opportunity to get home. He chose not to and decided to punch violently confront Zimmerman. No evidence, none, has been introduced that Zimmerman was violent with Trayvon until he shot the gun.
@Zatarra-What is wrong with a young man stepping up and confronting a bully, don’t we all have a duty to call thugs on their actions?
As my pappy always told me, use your words not your fists.
Simple wisdom that could have saved a life.
“Even if it was an accident”?! Did you even FOLLOW this case? Nobody said it was an accident. They said it was self-defense, which it obviously was.
If his parents cared about him so much, they should have taught him not to pin someone to the ground and keep attacking him under any circumstances, because if you do, you really don’t leave the person you attack many other options.