Taking A Look At The Trayvon Martin Case

I was standing in the hallway between my kitchen and my living room. I was agitated, ranting to my stepdad about the event that was going to happen later that evening. I was bright eyed and fervid in my speech. There was no question in my mind as to how it would all unfurl. Anything less than a righteous decision, would have been an abomination, a deliberate attack on all that is right and kind. At the time, I had a high degree of political efficacy. Maybe, I was naïve to think that justice would be served. We didn’t have cable in my house, so I remember scrambling to get my computer, to watch the event live. It was July 13th, 2013, the night of the Trayvon Martin case. He was a 17-year-old boy who was killed by a neighborhood watch man, who, arguably you could say, had a complex. I hoped with all my heart that the verdict of the Trayvon Martin case would do something to somehow ease the pain that a large portion of America was feeling. My eyes were glued to the computer screen and I was holding my breath, full of anticipation and anxiety. Then I heard the words not guilty. My shoulders dropped, my face fell, and I cried. I was filled with disbelief. There was no way that George Zimmerman

It is one thing to be scared, it is another thing to be so scared that a 12-year-old boy with a toy gun is seen as a threat, such as seen in the death of Tamir Rice. The first step begins with acknowledgment and education. Police training should involve less use of force and hold police officers to a higher standard. Officers should be trained in methods that prevent deaths, perhaps even given sensitivity training to better empathize with people of color. I, as a citizen of the United States should not be scared to call on the police for help. This is a reality for a lot of Black American citizens, a reality that needs to be