1 Times and Trayvon
The police unit that responded to the Trayvon Martin killing did not do a thorough inspection. They did not even know that Zimmerman’s car was there until his wife attempted to move it. They did not thoroughly canvas the neighborhood and knock and doors—otherwise they would have probably learned that Trayvon was a guest there at his father’s girlfriend’s place. The unit did not even have a homicide division because there were so few murders in the region. For that reason, it may be understood that there were gaps in the procedural work: they were simply inexperienced… Continue Reading...
Matter Movement[h1]
Abstract:[h2]
Established in 2012 following the high-profile shooting of 17-year-old African-American Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch leader George Zimmerman who was subsequently acquitted. Since that time, the Black Lives Matter movement has become a global phenomenon that has attracted both praise and criticism. The three co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi and Patrisse Cullors, also remain active today in their efforts to educate Americans concerning the extrajudicial killings of black Americans by vigilantes and law enforcement authorities across the country. To gain some new insights into this movement, this paper provides a review of the relevant… Continue Reading...
Trayvon Martin was the precipitating event for starting the movement, precisely because the case showed how a black life is viewed as dispensable. In the Trayvon Martin case, a white man was allowed to kill an unarmed Black man simply because he perceived him to be a threat, and then the judicial system failed by refusing to convict the killer. #BlackLivesMatter is a response to this and similar injustices.The author makes a point to say that #BlackLivesMatter is not just about police brutality but actually about all forms of institutionalized… Continue Reading...
Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman shows that juries do not always interpret threat the same way. Unlike the… Continue Reading...
of institutionalized racism does persist in America, evidenced by high profile cases like the Trayvon Martin shooting. Second, the slogan’s use of the word “lives” stresses the existential issues at stake: black lives are literally being lost in a discriminatory social, legal and political landscape. Finally, the word “matter” calls attention to the meaningfulness of the movement but more significantly of the ways black and white lives have historically been valued differently in America—a vestige of slavery and Jim Crow.
Drawing attention to the emotional content of the movement, the image also depicts the people holding the banner with passionate faces, and one has… Continue Reading...
tacit approval for members of the general public to do the same. The Trayvon Martin case perfectly highlights the racialization of killing and the pretense of "justifiable homicide" in America. The murder of black males as a whole is viewed as "justifiable," by the public and even in the eyes of the law. The Martin case, as well as predecessor examples from Rodney King onward, is not just about law enforcement perpetrating crimes against citizens. The entire legal system is at fault by refusing to recognize in any significant way the gross injustices perpetrated by police or citizens against people of color.
Police… Continue Reading...
