Posted on 08/13/2013 3:20:10 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Norwich - Approximately 50 people, many in hooded sweatshirts, gathered near a gazebo at the Howard T. Brown Park Sunday for an NAACP-sponsored "Hoodie Rally," which featured community leaders and local representatives speaking about racial profiling in the community and commemorating the upcoming anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington.
The speakers frequently referenced the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin and last month's decision by a Florida jury that George Zimmerman, who shot him, was not guilty because he acted in self-defense.
Martin was murdered "because he looked like a thug," said keynote speaker Pastor Devin Johnson of the Tabernacle of Deliverance and Praise. He said Martin would not have been shot if he were wearing a suit and tie.
Johnson, himself a former crack cocaine dealer who has been shot, urged community members to reach out to youth who seem to be part of a thug culture and help them.
"Why do we have to wait for this young man to be laid out like an animal, murdered in a parking lot, to do something?" he demanded, urging people to "stop praying and start working."
He also decried racial profiling based on appearance.
"I sold crack right here," he said, "but even when I changed my life I was racially profiled right here."
Isa Mujahid, a field organizer with the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said "people need to know that racial profiling is against the law." Insisting that people should know their rights, he passed out pocket Constitutions and "bust cards," which detail a person's rights when stopped by the police, an immigration officer or the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Still, said the next speaker, attorney Sarette Williams, "if you think the laws are enough to protect you, they're not." She said she believes too many unarmed brown and black men and boys were murdered by neighborhood watchmen, police officers and security guards.
Other speakers included State Sen. Cathy Osten, D-19th District, Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom, and a representative from the office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy.
Carolyn Harris of Groton, who watched the speakers from the back of a minivan, said she is a member of the Tabernacle of Deliverance and Praise and came largely to see her pastor speak. Sitting next to Johnson's daughter, she explained that she was "very proud" of the event and that all of the speakers were making a lot of sense to her.
Several speakers wrestled with the concept of justice in the wake of Zimmerman's "not guilty" verdict.
"We felt betrayed by our own justice system," said Ayzel Morales, describing the response of youth at the NAACP's 104th convention in Florida when they heard the verdict. Yet he cited the fact that NAACP has always been a nonviolent organization and tried to remember to put intellect before emotion.
"I always remember to take care of my business that way," said Morales.
Alice Cunningham, a member of the Tabernacle of Deliverance and Praise who watched the speakers from under a shady tree, said she believes justice is in God's hands now.
He's the only one who knows what truly happened that day and we will "all stand before him," said Cunningham.
All commercials now have at least an obligatory one to one black-white ratio, with the occasional token Asian or Latin kid thrown in. Blatant brainwashing.
We WILL all, all of us, stand before God one day. I do not know Zimmerman’s ultimate fate at His hands. I don’t believe, however, that he will be called to answer for Martin’s “murder”, or even his killing.
I cannot say the same for the race-baiters/
Fifty people!?! My goodness gracious. How did they ever hold the crowd back?
No, Martin was shot because he was a thug.
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Wait, Trayvon was murdered in a parking lot? How can anyone take these people seriously when they make up their own facts.
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Please, the number of unarmed brown and black men killed by security and police is drops in the bucket compared to the number of armed brown and black men who kill innocent white people.
A lot of pretty stupid people in Norwich. That’s their problem, fortunately.
I live near Washington, D.C. Just image the size of the problem I have with liberals/leftists. It’s like one gigantic insane asylum, 24/7, and the inmates are running it.
The word “sanity” has been cut out of the dictionary.
Under the word “care-giver” is a picture of Anthony Weiner, or what it “Athony’s Weiner”?
Under the word “DC” is a note that it is cross-indexed with the word “Democratic Politician Crime Center” . It’s present mayor may soon end up in jail, along with a lot of other Democrat political shakers and movers (which is what some of them will be doing a lot of in prison).
“Congress” is cross indexed to the words “Crooks”, “Crazies” and “Cronies”.
Under the word “Charlatan”, you will find a picture of both Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, as well as Boehner, Reid, Pelosi,and Jeb Bush.
So many words, so little time to write about them all.
I submit the radical blacks pushing this Zimmerman matter so aggressively and for so long is backfiring on them and that more people than ever in my lifetime are vocally turning their backs on the black community concerns - legit and illegit.. Too much is too much!!
That number 50 rings a bell. Oh yeah, that’s the number of blacks who beat up the white guy in St. Paul, and seldom is heard a discouraging word - and the skies are not cloudy all day.
What the rally serves to do is identify which people won’t ever let anger go away for any reason. Fortunately it’s a small group.
It is not a question of if they were paid to be there but a question of how much it took to buy an hour or two of their time.
“Anger” my arse. More like bigotry.
don’t these “sons of obama” have jobs?
Rent-a-mob.
I wish these clowns had jobs, and I wasn’t supporting their lazy butts.
The “Hoodie Spring”?
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