Thoughts From a Cooler Head
If you've paid any attention to the last several days' news, you'd know that George Zimmerman and his spectacularly smug smile managed to walk out of court a free man. If you've strolled social media, you would also see that a lot of people were mad as hell. This outrage was not restricted to people of color, which I admit, was refreshing to see.
What I noticed since that verdict was rendered, is that people have been calming down. Though calm, people are very focused on seeing justice for the late Mr. Martin. I can admit that I am one of the calm souls hoping that Zimmerman answers for what he's done. I also admit that I think cooler heads will prevail in this case. Saturday, I would not have said this. Because I was in "Crowbar in the Left Hand, Earl (My Gun) in the Right Hand" mad.
Extra tasty spicy.
Right rambunctious.
Sick of this shit and the shit before it.
I think I had every right in the world to be mad. I am a mom..a woman of color who has a son. While my son is only 2.9 years old, he could very well be Travyon. My kid could be at risk. As I said in a post that night, I am a person who loves to break rules (within reason)..who will be forced to tell my children that they have to follow a set of rules just to make sure they don't end up dying by a vigilante's hand. My son can't risk "fitting the description" or else he could be the next case plastered across television. Hell, my son can't even have a typical teenaged flare up out of fear that it'll be held against him if something happens to him.
"It was stated that the deceased was written up in school for replying to a fellow student with 'Bitch, I might be'. Though this occurred over a decade prior to his death, this cast a negative light on the victim. In spite of never having any other disciplinary issues, he is indeed a troublemaker who likely provoked his attacker."
Just saying...because you know the media had a field day with Trayvon's pictures, texts and typical teenaged boy foolery.
I saw anger from people who I never would have pictured to be the Table Flipping type. People woke up this past Saturday and began speaking from their hearts. We saw the pictures of Tracy and Sybrina in tears...we saw George's smiles and winks...we looked at our own children..and we were crushed for them. Even the most logical souls found themselves enraged. Educators, ministers, doctors...outraged. People were PISSED to say the least. In the midst of said pisstivity, people wanted to take action. Protests, marches, boycotts, you name it...anything, at all...to make sure Zimmerman paid for what he did. I can't even act like I didn't get mad enough to talk about what I was going to do (which is keep my dang loot out of Florida).
The part that aggravated me most was those who were condescending. "Yall ain't going to do shit" or "when you get done, you aren't going to get off your couch". I was very irate...then I saw this post:
That was when I had to remember that we had the right to be angry...and I was not going to waste my time dealing with those who act like they've been "Down for the Cause" since King got killed...literally.
In hindsight, I realized that my anger was semi-displaced. I wanted so badly for someone to "Zimmerman" Zimmerman. I began to wish for him to learn the hard way from what he did. I was angry that Tracy and Sybrina's son was not given justice by the legal system of Florida. How DARE they let a killer walk? I mean another killer walk again (because Casey is at the house chilling). My sadness evolved into a mob mentality that would not help Travyon get the justice he truly deserved. Wishing ill on the killer is a nice ass thought, no lie. However, the failure was with the prosecution.
I didn't catch each and every aspect of the trial, but from what I did see...the STATE failed Trayvon. They did not make their case against Zimmerman strong enough. When the jury asked for clarification, I had a feeling that they did not pick the harsher choice. It's easy to let that rage consume you when you are that emotionally invested in an issue. When the heat left my face, I looked at the prosecution and considered them to be the cause for this case falling apart. I know my viewpoint isn't popular...but let's be real, had they presented the case properly, Zimmerman could very well be an inmate.
We don't like to think with level heads about passionate causes. We don't take too kindly to being told to look at someone else. It's like stubbing your toe on the bed and punching the damn mattress. We don't like to think that we should have simply watched where we are going. This case is indeed the bed we stubbed our toes on. We're ready to beat the brakes off of Zimmerman when we should be looking elsewhere for answers. People are flailing fists at President Obama for some kind of action..so much so that rumors are flying about him intervening. Do we want JUSTICE...or do we want revenge? There is a difference.
Revenge is a temporary action. It's beating the bully's ass after he messed with your cousin. The catch is that depending on who you ask, it COULD be considered justice.
Justice would be for George to face a legal ramification for killing Trayvon. Maybe some kind of obscure charge somewhere or something. I'm no Legal Eagle, but I'm assuming that this is a far reach. I've been reading about possible Civil Rights charges being filed. Alas...I fear a failure of presenting a case properly would result in Teflon George going back home.
That bothers me.
I guess all of this mental regurgitation is to say that I want ALL of us on Trayvon's side to make sure that we don't forget what we're trying to do. I want justice for Trayvon. I want people to know that being a gun owner requires a great deal of responsibility, and that there are people paid to do what Zimmerman called himself doing. I want our children's lives to matter everywhere. I ask that we all make sure that we keep ourselves calm. You can be fired up without burning down a neighborhood. You can be passionate without being destructive. Believe that where the justice system failed, karma will prevail. Trust me when I say that I want George's life to be HELL for what he did. I want him to struggle finding work, I want him to be depressed, I want him to really deal with the repercussions of killing that boy. I don't want that man to be able to smile again...because I want him to have to deal with the ghost of Trayvon B. Martin.
And another thing, I want those who proclaim to be "conscious" not to throw shade at those who "woke up" Saturday night. Instead of bashing them for missing the previews, be glad that they caught the main feature. You may have read all the books, quoted all the revolutionaries, wore a shirt asking for the release of someone unjustifiably imprisoned and fought back when you were a "conspiracy theorist", but you too had to be enlightened. I say better late than never.
What I noticed since that verdict was rendered, is that people have been calming down. Though calm, people are very focused on seeing justice for the late Mr. Martin. I can admit that I am one of the calm souls hoping that Zimmerman answers for what he's done. I also admit that I think cooler heads will prevail in this case. Saturday, I would not have said this. Because I was in "Crowbar in the Left Hand, Earl (My Gun) in the Right Hand" mad.
Extra tasty spicy.
Right rambunctious.
Sick of this shit and the shit before it.
I think I had every right in the world to be mad. I am a mom..a woman of color who has a son. While my son is only 2.9 years old, he could very well be Travyon. My kid could be at risk. As I said in a post that night, I am a person who loves to break rules (within reason)..who will be forced to tell my children that they have to follow a set of rules just to make sure they don't end up dying by a vigilante's hand. My son can't risk "fitting the description" or else he could be the next case plastered across television. Hell, my son can't even have a typical teenaged flare up out of fear that it'll be held against him if something happens to him.
"It was stated that the deceased was written up in school for replying to a fellow student with 'Bitch, I might be'. Though this occurred over a decade prior to his death, this cast a negative light on the victim. In spite of never having any other disciplinary issues, he is indeed a troublemaker who likely provoked his attacker."
Just saying...because you know the media had a field day with Trayvon's pictures, texts and typical teenaged boy foolery.
Justifiable Anger.
I saw anger from people who I never would have pictured to be the Table Flipping type. People woke up this past Saturday and began speaking from their hearts. We saw the pictures of Tracy and Sybrina in tears...we saw George's smiles and winks...we looked at our own children..and we were crushed for them. Even the most logical souls found themselves enraged. Educators, ministers, doctors...outraged. People were PISSED to say the least. In the midst of said pisstivity, people wanted to take action. Protests, marches, boycotts, you name it...anything, at all...to make sure Zimmerman paid for what he did. I can't even act like I didn't get mad enough to talk about what I was going to do (which is keep my dang loot out of Florida).
The part that aggravated me most was those who were condescending. "Yall ain't going to do shit" or "when you get done, you aren't going to get off your couch". I was very irate...then I saw this post:
That was when I had to remember that we had the right to be angry...and I was not going to waste my time dealing with those who act like they've been "Down for the Cause" since King got killed...literally.
Lesson Learned.
In hindsight, I realized that my anger was semi-displaced. I wanted so badly for someone to "Zimmerman" Zimmerman. I began to wish for him to learn the hard way from what he did. I was angry that Tracy and Sybrina's son was not given justice by the legal system of Florida. How DARE they let a killer walk? I mean another killer walk again (because Casey is at the house chilling). My sadness evolved into a mob mentality that would not help Travyon get the justice he truly deserved. Wishing ill on the killer is a nice ass thought, no lie. However, the failure was with the prosecution.
I didn't catch each and every aspect of the trial, but from what I did see...the STATE failed Trayvon. They did not make their case against Zimmerman strong enough. When the jury asked for clarification, I had a feeling that they did not pick the harsher choice. It's easy to let that rage consume you when you are that emotionally invested in an issue. When the heat left my face, I looked at the prosecution and considered them to be the cause for this case falling apart. I know my viewpoint isn't popular...but let's be real, had they presented the case properly, Zimmerman could very well be an inmate.
We don't like to think with level heads about passionate causes. We don't take too kindly to being told to look at someone else. It's like stubbing your toe on the bed and punching the damn mattress. We don't like to think that we should have simply watched where we are going. This case is indeed the bed we stubbed our toes on. We're ready to beat the brakes off of Zimmerman when we should be looking elsewhere for answers. People are flailing fists at President Obama for some kind of action..so much so that rumors are flying about him intervening. Do we want JUSTICE...or do we want revenge? There is a difference.
Revenge is a temporary action. It's beating the bully's ass after he messed with your cousin. The catch is that depending on who you ask, it COULD be considered justice.
Justice would be for George to face a legal ramification for killing Trayvon. Maybe some kind of obscure charge somewhere or something. I'm no Legal Eagle, but I'm assuming that this is a far reach. I've been reading about possible Civil Rights charges being filed. Alas...I fear a failure of presenting a case properly would result in Teflon George going back home.
That bothers me.
I guess all of this mental regurgitation is to say that I want ALL of us on Trayvon's side to make sure that we don't forget what we're trying to do. I want justice for Trayvon. I want people to know that being a gun owner requires a great deal of responsibility, and that there are people paid to do what Zimmerman called himself doing. I want our children's lives to matter everywhere. I ask that we all make sure that we keep ourselves calm. You can be fired up without burning down a neighborhood. You can be passionate without being destructive. Believe that where the justice system failed, karma will prevail. Trust me when I say that I want George's life to be HELL for what he did. I want him to struggle finding work, I want him to be depressed, I want him to really deal with the repercussions of killing that boy. I don't want that man to be able to smile again...because I want him to have to deal with the ghost of Trayvon B. Martin.
And another thing, I want those who proclaim to be "conscious" not to throw shade at those who "woke up" Saturday night. Instead of bashing them for missing the previews, be glad that they caught the main feature. You may have read all the books, quoted all the revolutionaries, wore a shirt asking for the release of someone unjustifiably imprisoned and fought back when you were a "conspiracy theorist", but you too had to be enlightened. I say better late than never.
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