On the anniversary of the tragic murder of Trayvon Martin, we are gathering at the Georgia State Capitol to remember the victims of gun violence and to demand that the General Assembly take action to stop gun violence in Georgia.

Partnering Organizations
iCAN: Intercollegiate Action Network | Senator Vincent Fort (39th) | Senator Nan Orrock (36th)| Morehouse College SGA | Spelman College SGA | Clark-Atlanta University SGA | Georgia State SGA | Interdenominal Theological Center | Morris Brown College SGA | NAACP Georgia State Conference | Georgia Rural Urban Summit | Georgia Federation of Teachers | Georgia Association of Educators | Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732 | Communication Workers Of America Local 3204 | Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus | National Coalition For The People’s Agenda | National Coalition of Black Civic Participation

www.tinyurl.com/JusticeReturnsGA

WHO: Sybrina Fulton, Tracy Martin and their Attorneys Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks

WHEN: Tuesday, February 26 @ 6:00pm

WHAT: The Trayvon Martin Foundation will host a "Million Hoodie" Candlelight vigil to honor the one year anniversary of Trayvon’s death.

WHERE: Union Square, NYC - South Plaza

Facebook event page: http://goo.gl/neE1R

For further information you may contact:
Million Hoodie Organizer Daniel Maree: (646) 284-6281 or mareedaniel@gmail.com
Parks & Crump Law Firm for Attorney Crump’s assistant Jennifer Morgan (850) 222-3333 or parkscrumpllc@gmail.com
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I am Trayvon Day of Remembrance Peace Walk
Saturday, February 9, 2013
10:00am
Ives Estate Park
20901 NE 16th Avenue, Miami, FL 33179

DoubleTree Miami Airport Hotel
Sunday, February 10, 2013

His clique. His crew. An Iverson invention. Love for his crew. Like Drake got for the Weeknd. Love for his clique. Like Kanye got for Jay and Big Sean. Four of them sit inside a red SUV, Jordan Davis in the back seat. Jacksonville, Florida. Friday night. The hand on the clock is somewhere between seven and eight. The bullets that are fired are somewhere between eight and nine. The red SUV gets riddled with bullets, but Jordan's the only one hit. Two shots make contact, but still breathing. Barely. Trying to hold on. DAMN! He's only 17. The music still makes the car bump, but the bullets muffle the mind to the point that the lights get turned down. Hov. Ricky Rozay. Wayne. Nasir Jones. Drake. Meek Mill. Wiz. Kanye. Maybe even Chief Keef. Blasts out the speakers, like every other car full of teenagers that ride around America that night. The red SUV is the only one that takes bullets for the music, though. Or was it really the loud music that caused the bullets to lose their life too?

He doesn't make it. He doesn't take another breathe. He doesn't get to finish high school. He doesn't get to go to his prom. He doesn't get to experience his first day on a college campus. He doesn't get to marry the love of his life. He doesn't get to have children. He doesn't get to grow old. He doesn't get to die in peace. Stereotypes of a black male, truly understood. Sorry Biggie, this time it ain't all good. Jordan Davis died when he got to the hospital. He was just 17. Shot by a man who didn't like his loud music and who said that someone in Jordan's SUV pointed a gun at him, so he felt "threatened." No gun was ever found, except for the one that took Jordan's life.

When I was 17, I listened to a lot of loud, rap music. I grew up in the suburbs of New York City, only 40 miles away from where realities were being spit on cassette tapes by young, black men who didn't think they would make it past 21. 17 years later, unfortunately this is still the reality. The lyrics might have changed, but the beat still bangs hard. From Jacksonville to Brownsville to the ville in Chicago, 21 is still that hopeful age. Mothers stay awake at night, praying their sons make it home from that friend's birthday party. Fathers sit by the phone hoping that their sons call if they ever find trouble. And other 17 year olds attend way too many funerals of other 17 year olds. However, the beat that still bangs hard gives us a moment of clarity. A moment of honesty. Another moment to feel our truths.

Truth be told, when Trayvon Martin died, we knew it would happen again. We rallied. We marched. We protested. We signed petitions. We put our hoodies up. But, in the back of our minds we knew that it would happen again. There is no comparison between the deaths of any seventeen year old, as every life is sacred and the families deserve to have their own periods of mourning. So don't confuse this with thinking that I am comparing the two, but something is happening in this country that has to come to an end. We don't want the fear that some have of young black men to be a disease our country cannot cure.

We must fight everyday to build a more compassionate America. A more generous America. A more tolerant America. This is the make-up of our generation's DNA, the bloodline of our future. We know that this vision of a new America will not be accomplished quickly, so we must continue to make the beat bang. Slavery did not end without many lives lost. A woman's right to vote did not come easily. The Civil Rights movement lasted over two decades. The gay rights movement finally has caught some traction. So, if we are to believe that our country can be that beacon of hope, then we must continue our journey towards justice. And not be afraid to turn. the. music. up!

RIP Jordan Davis. Our prayers are with your family and friends.

--
Best,
Michael Skolnik

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DALLAS — The family of a Florida teen who was shot to death by a neighborhood watch volunteer found support at The Potter's House on Sunday.

Trayvon Martin's parents and his brother attended services at the Dallas megachurch. They came to North Texas to attend a benefit for the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation on Saturday night.

Bishop T.D. Jakes told them there really is no such thing as "closure," and Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton, agreed.

"I know that this will never end for us because Trayvon is not going to come back. But what we do hope is that we can help somebody else's family out," she said. "And I just also want you to know that God is in control."

Trayvon Martin was killed in February in a case that shocked the nation.

George Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder in his death. Zimmerman is currently out on bond, awaiting trial.

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The lawyer for Trayvon Martin’s parents harshly criticized efforts by George Zimmerman’s attorneys to obtain the school records and Facebook information for the deceased 17-year-old high school student, saying they were irrelevant to the case.

“Zimmerman’s lawyers are attempting to assassinate Trayvon Martin’s character,” said Benjamin Crump, in an interview with BET.com. “Whatever Trayvon had on his Facebook page or whatever was in his school records have nothing to do with why Zimmerman shot him.”

Crump said he is seeking to obtain Zimmerman’s medical records.

“The medical condition and medical history of George Zimmerman is far more relevant to the case,” Crump said. “He was the one who did the shooting.”

Zimmerman, who has been charged with second-degree murder in the killing of the teenager, contends that he acted in self-defense. Initially, Zimmerman invoked Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law, which allows people to use deadly force if they feel threatened.

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Let it be clear on the record, that we feel confident that the unjustified killing of Trayvon Benjamin Martin should and will be decided by a jury. Many of the legal architects of the Stand Your Ground law have already opined that it does not apply in this case. A grown man cannot profile and pursue an unarmed child, shoot him in the heart, and then claim stand your ground. We believe that the killer’s motion will be denied during the Stand Your Ground Hearing, and as justice requires a jury will ultimately decide the fate of a man that killed an innocent child.

There is only one version of this story that represents that Zimmerman was attacked by Trayvon Martin, and that’s Zimmerman’s self-serving version. Everyone will agree that the killer’s credibility is clearly questionable.

Trayvon’s parents do not feel that this is a man that feared for his life the night he shot and killed their child, this is a man whose only fear is spending his life in prison.