Trayvon, We Failed You Once, But We Will Never Fail You Again!

The Global Grind ^ | June 7, 2013 | Michael Skolnik, Editor-In-Chief

[2ndDivisionVet]

We didn't mourn with the family from the church pews when seventeen teen year old, Trayvon Martin, was sent to his homecoming with God. We had not yet heard of his name. We couldn't stop the one shot fired on that drizzling night in Sanford, Florida on February 26, 2012. We, too, were watching LeBron, Kobe and D. Wade on our television. We didn't raise our voices when the man who pulled the trigger was allowed to sleep in his own bed the night he ended the life of the young man from Miami. We hadn't yet heard the news. But, soon enough, we were awoken by emails and tweets, facebook posts and phone calls, petitions and calls for marches of a million hoodies, led by young people from around the world, who would not let the death of this young, black man become another statistic in the Sanford Police Department log book.

Over the next sixteen months, the rallying cries from our generation would lead a movement for justice and peace that has arrived at the Seminole County courthouse steps ready for the murder trial of George Zimmerman that will begin on Monday morning. The trial will be watched by millions and discussed by every news network in America, however if it wasn't for the work of young people, we might not have ever arrived at this day. From small towns to big cities, from elementary schools to law libraries, from intro-mural teams to professional athletes, the call for justice was deafening. Quieting the chatter that we had given up or no longer care or lost interest, we marched on. Silencing the critics of our generation, who believe we are lazy, entitled and narcissistic, we kept up the fight.

This is a moment of definition. A defining moment for our generation that is critical to who we will become. No matter what name a magazine, politician, or critic wants to label our generation, we know that we take care of our own. Whether it is gay couples who want to marry, undocumented students whose dreams should not be limited by their location, battled soldiers who deserve to come home from war to a country that embraces them or young black men who should be allowed to walk freely through any neighborhood in this nation, our generation will do everything in our power to make this America, the most beautiful. For our ugliness rained drops of death on Trayvon Martin the night he lost his life, we know that we failed him once, but we will never fail him again.

In his name and his memory, we will wear our hoodies to work, to school, to play on Monday morning and inspire our friends, relatives and enemies to keep the fight for justice alive. Traveling to Sanford, Florida Sunday night for the opening days of this trial, I promise to deliver all of the well-wishes to the family of our fallen comrade. I also promise to deliver the news of this trial in real-time, as the outcome of this case will forever be part of the history of our journey. Proud of our persistence and confident of our commitment, I know that my generation will stand with Trayvon until the very end. Our brother, Trayvon, rests in peace, but we will not rest until we find peace for all.

[zencycler]

As long as a significant number of African American youth remain hostile toward our country, government, police, teachers, or any other forms of authority or oversight, then yes, incidents like this will happen again. But what these protesters are missing is that the hostility which they are helping to perpetuate is by far the greater cause of these deaths than any gun laws or community watch activities.

These aggressive attitudes are the main reason these youth frequently put themselves into dangerous situations. And the prevalence of these attitudes among so many black youth make Zimmerman's report of what happened that night all the more plausible. Those who genuinely care about the health and safety of these youth should be the first to say that more important than dealing with the guilt or innocence of Mr. Zimmerman, that since there very well could be issues related to being overly-confrontative and aggressive by either party, the epidemic of these angry attitudes among their youth is something which needs to be addressed in order to help avoid many more incidents like this from occurring in the future.

[Gay State Conservative]

Looks like Zimmerman lost every round but the last one.

[kcvl]

Everybody is so damn selfish about protecting their right to own this gun or that gun. How about PROTECTING THOSE KIDS IN CHICAGO???

—
Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) January 27, 2013

[kcvl]

In 1997, while an undergraduate at UCLA, Michael Skolnik founded Equal Opportunity Productions (EqOp), an arts organization run entirely by young people.  EqOp’s mission was to bring an eight week theater program into L.A.’s most underserved public schools to help address the lack of curricular arts programming in inner-city schools.  Michael is repped by Philip Raskind and Chris Donnelly at Endeavor.  Michael is on the board the Hip-Hop Theater Festival, Kid Power DC and the Advisory Board of IFP/NY.

[M1911A1]

The willingness of leftards to put ignorance and deceit on public display never fails to amaze, but this particular example is breathtakingly appalling.

Good find.

[Nitehawk0325]

I never said Obama should be shot he needs to be taken out of office before he destroys our country any further. Violence should be the last of all options.

[Jeff Winston]

Over the next sixteen months, the rallying cries from our generation would lead a movement for justice and peace that has arrived at the Seminole County courthouse steps ready for the murder trial of George Zimmerman that will begin on Monday morning.

A "movement for justice and peace."

Is that what they're calling a lynch mob these days?

[RDAardvark]

Why on earth would you think I was implying that??? Seek help.

[kanawa]

Were you able to take a photo today?

[VeniVidiVici]

No, sure didn’t. I drove by last night expecting to see a lot full of new trucks and only saw a few. I’ll go up there tomorrow and see if I can get some up close and personal.

[Jacob Kell]

Chang the ice tea to watermelon fruit juice cocktail drink.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

And all the burglaries in Trayvon’s neighborhood stopped. 12 burglaries in 14 months before Trayvon’s demise.