On the very humid evening of July 16th a sizeable and ethnically-diverse crowd gathered outside the American embassy in London to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin trial. Organised by the National African Caribbean Forum, supporters showing their solidarity with the Martin family included visitors from Cardiff, Austria and the US.

Calls for justice were sounded with chants, rousing speeches, poetry and the beating of drums. A host of people took to a speakerphone in turn to voice what the case, verdict and its aftermath meant to them personally. Key points from speeches included a call for unity amongst Black people and all oppressed groups as well as the need for increased and sustained activism. People stressed the continued urgency for social change, pointing to recent legal travesties. For instance, the sentencing of a Black woman, Marissa Alexander, to 20 years imprisonment for firing warning shots against her abusive husband, is further proof of the discriminatory application of the ‘stand your ground’ law in Florida.

Many supporters pointed out the prolonged legal battles for justice in UK cases, often with unacceptable outcomes, undermines the humanity of Black people. The criminalization of us as a group as well as the demonization of Black victims within the mainstream media plays a major role in this