#WeAreTrayvonMartin: Breaking the silence around racial abuse

By H. Samy Alim / Special to Current



Over the last week, the nation has been gripped with the murder of Trayvon Martin. Everyone from the Children’s Defense Fund’s Marian Wright Edelman to boxing legend Muhammad Ali have photographed themselves in black hoodies, symbolizing both their solidarity with Trayvon and their stance against the stereotype-driven suspicion that haunts people of color. Hip Hop artists and celebrities, from Young Jeezy to Jamie Foxx, are helping attract attention to the case. Even Barack Obama -— whom nearly everyone thought would run from this like it was the plague (at least if he wanted to avoid Republican race-baiters like Newt Gingrich) -— spoke out powerfully.

“If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon,” he said.

Despite all of this attention, some of my friends still cannot understand why I have been “so obsessed,” in their words, with the murder of Trayvon Martin. I and others are so concerned with this case for obvious reasons. All of the details that have emerged in the media—recorded 911 calls, ear-witness testimonies, potential police misconduct, and racial slurs paint Trayvon’s murder as a racially motivated crime carried out in the context of an institutional racism that sanctions violence against black bodies.

But aside from the specifics of this case —- and the many insightful analyses that have emerged —- there remains one reason above all others why this case has struck such a chord with communities of color.

http://current.com/groups/news-blog/93714551_wearetrayvonmartin-breaking-the-silence-around-racial-abuse.htm