Trayvon Martin, a teen who was murdered in 2012 because of the way he looked, would have celebrated his 19th birthday Feb. 5, 2014.
You had no way of knowing a bullet would have pierced your body the night of Feb. 20, 2012 causing your last breaths to escape from your body, your chest to rise and fall for the last time and your heart to no longer produce the rhythm of life.
All you wanted was some skittles and tea.
Suppose this horror had not happened. You would have been young man, blowing out the 19 fire flickering candles atop your cake as loved ones sung the traditional four long song of birthday celebration. Your day would have been marked with a phone flooded with texts and Facebook posts of well wishes from family, friends and acquaintances. Some would argue that you were on a path to become another negative statistic. I believe you would have been a high school graduate and, possibly, a University student, fulfilling your own dreams, heading toward personal success.
It saddens me that the earth will no longer feel the weights of your steps and your family can no longer feel the warmth of your presence and your embrace. I lament at the fact that you were never given the chance to be a husband or a child’s father. And I tremble at the fact that you are a household name, symbolic of racial violence.
One positive thing that I can say is that your death was not in vain. A fact we owe to your parents for not accepting defeat and letting this issue perish with your funeral. Because of them, your falling gave rise to the cause of fighting against racial injustices caused by stereotypes and prejudice thinkings. Conversations began about the state of our black communities and the fate of our black males who are perceived as harmful because of the way they look. We recognized that your face and your story could just as easily be replaced with our brothers, cousins, nephews, and sons. To drive this image home athletes, community leaders and political leaders geared up in their own hoodies to make powerful statements.
Two years later, the fight as not over. But we refuse to give up. “No Justice, No Peace.”
Today our Hoodies are up and we pledge to never forget. Happy Birthday Trayvon Martin. Rest in Paradise.
Fearless Expressioner 