Trayvon Martin

[compared2what?]

Whilst I might disagree with the "White people arent catching on stuff" or even the idea that Black people get it ( see Obama) thats a mighty fine summary IMHO, Nordic.

Well it is admittedly a generalization.

But it's something I've really noticed lately. And realized to be generally true.

Agree.

The odd thing about the O-bomber is that you can use him to illustrate two completely opposed (and also generally true) correlates of that. '

First the bad news:

He illustrates why and how this...

White people need to figure out that we're all "black" now. Except for those in the 1% of the 1%.

Black people have had this shit figured out for a long time. White people still aren't catching on.

...doesn't lead to the triumph of the 99% the way it should -- ie, because many (maybe most) people of all races want to be strivers more than any other thing, given the opportunity.

And then the other bad news:

He illustrates why and how striving's not the answer, no matter how far ahead you fucking get. Because look at him, ffs. (The President of the United States. Ivy-educated. Not darker-skinned than many caucasians. Culturally assimilated. Etc.) And has he striven his way free of racism?



Not hardly. (That's very gentle, relative to what you get in an image search for his name and the word racism. I just didn't want to post something more representative.)

People never learn.

________

Anyway. Agree.

[barracuda]

there has never been a good factual rebuttal to George Zimmerman’s own account of self defense. You know why?

Trayvon Martin is dead

Thanks for that. The goddamn OBVIOUS answer to the above STUPID rhetorical question. Obviously written by some white "liberal".

Maybe. Or maybe a goddam conviction on a manslaughter charge would have been the best the prosecution could do even if Trayvon had been able to take the stand himself.

It's inconvenient that the prosecution has to use the available evidence to actually prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt for a conviction. Even though I know blacks are horribly discriminated against, even as aware as I am of the institutional war against blacks in this country, even though I feel Zimmerman ought to be and needs to be in jail for killing Martin, my feeling doesn't extend to wishing him to be railroaded there. I don't like unmerited convictions much as a general rule.

The media built this whole event into a white-versus-black circus in order to sell papers. As a result, the prosecution thought they'd have a slam-dunk on a 2nd degree. But they didn't. And before the trial was even over, everyone knew it. That's why the judge offered to accept a lesser charge before sending the jury to consider. Stautes:

2nd deg. murder:

(2) The unlawful killing of a human being, when perpetrated by any act imminently dangerous to another and evincing a depraved mind regardless of human life, although without any premeditated design to effect the death of any particular individual, is murder in the second degree and constitutes a felony of the first degree, punishable by imprisonment for a term of years not exceeding life

Manslaughter:

(1) The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification according to the provisions of chapter 776 and in cases in which such killing shall not be excusable homicide or murder, according to the provisions of this chapter, is manslaughter, a felony of the second degree

^^That second one was doable.

White people need to figure out that we're all "black" now.

Where does that leave black people then? At an even lower range of expendability, that's where. And also: no, they aren't. Not even close. That notion doesn't leave much wiggle room for a variety of privilege which continues to exist even below the 1% mark.

Now you're black? Talk about liberal.

Examine your opinion of this trial: Zimmerman got off because he killed a black youth, and he's almost white, sort of. Even if I don't really think that's what happened here, I agree with the general terms of your outrage, past and ongoing.

Anyway. Agree.

Yes, but...

The unofficial criminal penalty for shooting black people in this country is a sentence of somewhere between Nothing and Maybe-a-Trial-But-Don't-Worry-They'll-Acquit. (Unless the shooter is also black.) Been that way for as long as I can remember.

This stays the same while the disregard for the rule of law by those entrusted to uphold it devolves to encompass all citizens. We are all secondary to the needs of empire and the security state, but we are decidedly not all black.

[parel]

Zimmerman Prosecutor Angela Corey's Smile Is Under Fire





A post-verdict statement made by Angela Corey, Florida attorney general for the prosecution of George Zimmerman, came across to many viewers as callous and bizarre — Corey, who had just lost her case, spoke with a certain air of victory (more than one observer noted that the perceived satisfaction and attitude of gracious thanks was almost Academy Awards acceptance speech-esque) and what the Boston Herald's Peter Gelzinis described as "the weird smile of an event planner."

That smile, accompanied by her key phrase — "This case has never been about race or the right to bear arms" (HAHA, k) — hasn't improved the firestorm building against Corey right now. Shortly before the Zimmerman verdict came in, Corey personally prosecuted Marissa Alexander to the fullest extent of the law for firing a single warning shot at her abusive husband; both her case and Martin's involved the invocation of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, which allows citizens to use "lethal force" if in life-threatening danger, and both Alexander and Martin were African American.

According to a March 2012 blog post on the website Justice4Juveniles (via):

In the five year period between 2006/7 and 2010/11, across the state of Florida, an average of 52 % of black male juveniles were tried as adults for crimes they had committed. Angela Corey tried an average of 70%. The same state over the same time period tried an average of 25% of white male juveniles as adults for crimes that they had committed, Angela Corey, on the other hand, tried an average of 18%.
These horrible statistics should be the driving force behind questioning Corey's right to remain in her state attorney general position — God knows we have no idea why Corey was smiling during her press conference, but tweeting about the above issues would be far more effective for progress than ragging on her makeup or her weight. If Corey were "conventionally attractive," she'd still be morally negligible. I mean, just look at Ann Coulter. (Or don't look directly at her, that's fine too.)
http://jezebel.com/zimmerman-prosecutor ... -778649569

[Nordic]

We are all secondary to the needs of empire and the security state, but we are decidedly not all black.

Only if you take what I said literally. The way we are treated by the 1% of the 1% is the same. And they honestly don't care what race any of us are. We're all untermenschen to them.

And whites can understand the "new world order" if they look at how blacks have been treated in the past. That's how we're all going to be treated now.

Yes, within the 99.9% of course there is still intraracial racism. But that wasn't my point.

[8bitagent]

We live in a sad world where people aren't safe just going to the grocery store. Trayvon just wanted a night time snack, and never made it home. As the movie Fruitvale Station rolls out in theaters, we see another example of a young unarmed black male having his life cut short by cop mentality. In Oakland, where Fruitvale takes places, an increasing number of (yes, mostly white) artist types I know there have been victims of attacks/home invasions/robberies
(by sadly, mostly young black men) I believe no matter what race, class, etc one should be able to walk wherever they want, any time of the day and know they'll be safe.

Life is too disposable to some. The endless young black on black deaths in Chicago's inner city highlights this example of life being "cheap". As does the smug look of "got away with this" on Zimmerman.

The topic of race came up again recently with the Paula Deen thing, CNN even doing a one hour special on the N Word. I notice myself that a lot of times the use of the word, either by whites or blacks seems to go hand in hand with a devaluing of life. "That's one dead" n word can either come from a Klan like mentality or a young black male born, raised and swallowed into a hopeless socio economic cycle of despair and violence.

But the one thing I don't think anyone can "know" unless they are black is what I imagine that unspoken feeling. Ive heard it described as something you cannot escape. And that is being black in a mostly non black world.
Even if one is to live in a generally accepting melting pot community, I can only imagine the unspoken feeling of being pre-judged. Just the register that there's a black person in proximity when other whites or even non whites does not set of that instant mental response. It's something I can't imagine. As an Asian person, in the modern world I never feel that, and that's why ultimately I do feel that unless you're a black person you can never fully appreciate the American black experience. So regardless of what happened that fateful day last year in Sanford, it's yet another painful reminder for the black community and experience of the perils of simply being of color where "one doesn't belong".

And the thing with Obama is, is there any statistics to show if in general blacks are better off or worse off in general than under Bush?

[Nordic]

But the one thing I don't think anyone can "know" unless they are black is what I imagine that unspoken feeling. Ive heard it described as something you cannot escape. And that is being black in a mostly non black world.
Even if one is to live in a generally accepting melting pot community, I can only imagine the unspoken feeling of being pre-judged. Just the register that there's a black person in proximity when other whites or even non whites does not set of that instant mental response. It's something I can't imagine.

"To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage" - James Baldwin

[Hunter]

The jurors asked the judge about manslaughter at the last minute and as I understand it, it was on the table ( I could be wrong) but they did ask about it so it seems that may have had that option.

There is no evidence whatsoever that GZ is a racist or that race played a role in this, IT MAY HAVE, we dont know, the detective didnt seem to think so, he said GZ was frustrated with recent break ins etc and took things further than he should have but following him was not illegal, TM decking him was illegal, whatever happened from that point on we will never know, I dont think he needed to shoot him but the experts and even the lead detective seemed to suggest GZ didnt do anything wrong.

Its an emotional issue and I am no GZ fan but I also dont like to throw the race card around so easily, I may be wrong on that but from what I seen and heard GZ didnt seem like a hard core racist to me, but what game him away IMO was that he immediately, on the 911 call identified TM as "these punks always get away with it, fucking assholes." IMO that right there established a possible ill will and hatred toward the kid which could have been used for a 2nd degree murder charge.



As an observer my take was that the prosecutors were douchebags and the defense counsel were all very likable and I think that is what played the ultimate role.


I am not sure there will be a civil trial, the home owners association already paid 1 million dollars to TM's family so I think GZ will be shielded from any possible civil suit because of that and while the feds might talk a big game about civil rights trial, I dont see it happening, but I am wrong more than I am right so we will see.



GZ should should probably get out of the country or go shack up with Casey Anthony because iI do agree his life is not going to be an easy one for a long time if ever.

[seemslikeadream]

on the 911 call identified TM as "these punks always get away with it, fucking assholes."

no it was....

"these fucking punks always get away with it, fucking assholes."


TM decking him was illegal

were you there? .....You know that...how? How do you know GZ didn't attack him first?....How do you know TM wasn't defending himself? How do you know anything?

All I know for a fact is that all of this wouldn't have happened if GZ had stayed in his car like he was told to do...he had the gun...he killed TM...that's the facts

Trayvon is dead and Zimmerman killed him...that's the fact that everyone knows for sure

[8bitagent]

In 2011 A 16 year old American teenager of color was wrongfully killed as he snuck out of his families home he was vacationing at to go grab a quick bite. But it wasnt by a racist wannabe cop vigilante. It was by the Obama administration with a deadly drone stike, even tho it turned out he was just an innocent kid and not affilitated with Islamic extremism.



If this had happened by Bush, there woulda been protests by the left.

[Jerky]

Link please for this last story.

Based on his recorded comments alone, we would have good enough evidence to assume GZ was racist. Reading a summary of his father's disgraceful book pretty much seals the deal.

YOPJ

[seemslikeadream]

It was God's plan
- GZ

I didn't know about stand your ground law

- GZ

LIE

[Hunter]

on the 911 call identified TM as "these punks always get away with it, fucking assholes."

no it was....

"these fucking punks always get away with it, fucking assholes."


TM decking him was illegal

were you there? .....You know that...how? How do you know GZ didn't attack him first?....How do you know TM wasn't defending himself? How do you know anything?

All I know for a fact is that all of this wouldn't have happened if GZ had stayed in his car like he was told to do...he had the gun...he killed TM...that's the facts

Trayvon is dead and Zimmerman killed him...that's the fact that everyone knows for sure

SLAD I made it clear I am not a GZ fan, I simply accept the jury's verdict, what is the alternative, should we just throw people in prison with no due process. GZ was given due process and the system rendered a verdict and I have to accept that.


As far as TM decking GZ no I was not there but that is what the police reports indicate and that is all we have to go on, could it all be an elaborate hoax? Sure, it may very well be that. And yes, upthread I made it very clear GZ started the entire domino effect had he not gotten out of his car after making a possible mistake in assuming TM was "one of those punks and assholes who always get away with things' which he had no evidence to support, then TM would be alive, but none of that matters, the jury heard the case,. the judge presided over the case and made sure it was as fair as possible and IMO she even gave the state more benefit than the defense she didnt allow the defense animated video etc, but the jury still came to the conclusion that this was a justified homicide, we dont have to agree with it but we have to respect it, at least I do, as I have no choice, its the system I work in and believe in, win some lose some, this may have been a loss and a tragic one as TM is now dead and I am not happy about that either.

But as far as I can tell from all the evidence of expert testimony TM did hit GZ and smashed his nose and head pretty good, did that require him being shot, IMO, NO, in the jury's opinion which is all that matters, yes.

You werent there and I wasnt there, so essentially neither one of us have any ground to stand on to argue the merits of this case either way but I am happy to engage in such a discussion because I do enjoy hearing your opinion and that of others and perhaps along the way I learn a thing or two in doing so.

[seemslikeadream]

Zimmerman's business with the court may not be over

Donna Leinwand Leger and Yamiche Alcindor, USA TODAY 7:37 p.m. EDT July 14, 2013
"Not guilty" does not necessarily mean George Zimmerman's legal trials are over. The Justice Department is investigating, and Trayvon Martin's family could sue in civil court.

A Justice Department investigation of possible civil rights violations is underway
Trayvon Martin's family could sue in civil court, where the standard of proof is lower
A wrongful death lawsuit seeks money damages rather than punishment

George Zimmerman's business with the criminal court in Florida may be done, but a federal civil rights investigation remains open, and legal experts say he could face a civil suit.

A federal investigation into the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin is underway, and prosecutors from the Justice Department's civil rights division will review evidence from the FBI and the Florida criminal trial, the Justice Department said Sunday in a written statement.

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in a gated townhouse community in Sanford, Fla., shot and killed Trayvon on Feb. 26, 2012, as he returned home from buying snacks at a convenience store. Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, claimed he shot the unarmed African-American teenager in self-defense.

"Experienced federal prosecutors will determine whether the evidence reveals a prosecutable violation of any of the limited federal criminal civil rights statutes within our jurisdiction, and whether federal prosecution is appropriate," the statement said.

NAACP President Ben Jealous said on CNN that the civil rights organization had spoken with Justice Department officials about lodging federal civil rights charges against Zimmerman.

"There will be a federal civil rights phase," Jealous said.

[parel]

IT director who raised questions about Zimmerman case is fired


Sanford, Florida (CNN) -- An employee of the Florida State Attorney's Office who testified that prosecutors withheld evidence from George Zimmerman's defense team has been fired.

Ben Kruidbos had been on paid administrative leave since May 28 from his job as director of information technology for the State Attorney's Office.

A spokeswoman for Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Angela Corey said Kruidbos was no longer an employee of the office.
Zimmerman, a former neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, is on trial in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin last year.


continued

[seemslikeadream]

Now we're laying in the mud
Looking up above
Tear water just ah drop from the sky
They try to keep us in the mud
Separating us from love
But me nah go let dem conquer de I



Miss Liberty turn inna Jezzabelle
All de dreams you go sell, de whole dem turn inna hell
Her bed of roses are filled with thorns
Her righteous robes are tattered and torn

If she had only stood for love
That would have been enough
She wouldn't have to hide her shame
If she had only stood for love
That would have been enough
But now she's burnt us all with her flames

Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful life
Amerimacka
Is like licking honey off a knife

Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful sight
Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful life

The land of the free built on slavery
Our consciousness in captivity
The promise land is the liar's den
Your culture of greed has got to end

Now we're laying in the mud
Looking up above
Tear water just ah drop from the sky
They try to keep us in the mud
Separating us from love
But me nah go let dem conquer de I

Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful life
Amerimacka
Is like licking honey off a knife

Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful sight
Amerimacka
Oh what a beautiful life

Help, Help, Mama Harriet, Help!
Tue, 07/09/2013 - 18:01 — Raymond Nat Turner


by Raymond Nat Turner

“US like bloodhounds, strip-searching our souls, stealing star-studded

Smiles from our children’s eyes, chaining them to hitching posts like

Horses or mules.”

Help, Help, Mama Harriet, Help!

by Raymond Nat Turner



Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Hallucination, or Hibernation’s the new Negro National Question

For hearts and brains infected by strains of post-racial congestion—

Deadly delusions are dancing around, masking truths about genocide…

As hyphens between Africans and Amerikkka, act Wyoming-wide!



Come tonight, dim chandelier overhead—or come tomorrow, damp

Moss growing green and thick on tree trunks, pointing you north…

High sign when gulf and coasts are clear, Reconstruction tasks dog

US like bloodhounds, strip-searching our souls, stealing star-studded

Smiles from our children’s eyes, chaining them to hitching posts like

Horses or mules; come whispering truth of how battles for housing

Those in cardboard beds along dog-soiled sidewalks must be fought;

Truth of how firefights for freedom schools needed by your children

Asleep on corners— britches-level consciousness—must be fought,

How mirages of Rollex-models must be mowed down on trails you blazed;

Come Underground Railroad, Harpers Ferry, or hitchhiking—though your

Bling-blind children roll Land Rovers, Hummers, Benzes and Bentleys, but

Sub-compact love for one another, the ancestors and other animals of the planet…

Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!



Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Hallucination, or Hibernation’s the new Negro National Question

For hearts and brains infected by strains of post-racial congestion—

Deadly delusions are dancing around, masking truths about genocide…

As hyphens between Africans and Amerikkka, act Wyoming-wide!



Come digging your dark, strong, work-scarred hands deep in our

Sternums, compressing our chests with CPR, come blowing your

Brave breath through our twisted mouths, blow fire back into our

Potbellies; deliver us from clutches of expiring empire; come using

Your trusty pistol as a defibrillator, shocking our shriveled, shuffling,

Celebrity-worshipping hearts alive—pray enough oxygen’s in our

Blood for saving our poor hearts, for saving our feeble brains!

Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!



Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Hallucination, or Hibernation’s the new Negro National Question

For hearts and brains infected by strains of post-racial congestion—

Deadly delusions are dancing around, masking truths about genocide…

As hyphens between Africans and Amerikkka, act Wyoming-wide!



Come heartbroken, wondering where your children lost true North,

Swallowed up in steel cages, voted out with hot lead ballots, hooked

On “race-“laced hashish of state deception, while casting you with

Mimed movements for reparations, ever since Madison Avenue’s

Moses came calibrating and triangulating like Ol’ Pharaoh—

Profaning hallow ground you fought on a century ago!

Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!



Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Hallucination, or Hibernation’s the new Negro National Question

For hearts and brains infected by strains of post-racial congestion—

Deadly delusions are dancing around, masking truths about genocide…

As hyphens between Africans and Amerikkka, act Wyoming-wide!



Highball it, come handing down Drinking Gourd directions,

We’ll rise and walk vertical again in five-foot tall footprints

Of your Herculean love for us, and our unfinished business,

We’ll spit on thirty pieces of silver-house Negroz, spying and

Lying fo’ Ol’ Massa, neo-liberal Lilliputians, Tattoos for empire!

Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!



Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…

Hallucination, or Hibernation’s the new Negro National Question

For hearts and brains infected by strains of post-racial congestion—

Deadly delusions are dancing around, masking truths about genocide…

As hyphens between Africans and Amerikkka, act Wyoming-wide!


Hotfoot it, come hardening us like diamond drills for digging out

Of decades of brimstone flabbiness; come humbling us for finding

New forwarders, conductors and station agents of change we can

Act with— new Fanny Lous, Ida B’s, Rosas, Ellas, Daisys, Caffies

Coming from Compton, Caracas, Delhi, Durban, Dar Es Salaam,

Cochabamba, Kabul, Baghdad, Bombay, Teheran, Harlem and Seoul

With names like Marilyn, Assata, Vandana, Ramona, Pam, Yuri, Alice,

Arundhati, Cynthia, Charlotte, Lynne, Medea, Monica, Nellie, Nora,

Brenda, Barbara, Gerri, Asantewaa, Kiilu, Iyanna, Cleo, or Jane Doe!

“Swing low,” help us finish getting to the promise land,

Finding “a new way of living,” somewhere, somehow—

Hurry!

Hurry!

Hurry!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, help, Mama Harriet—help!

Help, Mama Harriet, help Mama Harriet, Mama Harriet…