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On Black Lives Matter's website, the organization's radical founders trace the creation of their movement "to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin's murderer, George Zimmerman." Had those founders paid any attention to the trial, they would have known that Zimmerman should never have been charged with murder, let alone tried. The fact that he was arrested can be attributed to a stunningly blatant fraud orchestrated by the attorney who has been prominently milking the racial divide he helped create, Benjamin Crump. As it happens, the one person capable of exposing this fraud is George Zimmerman. All Zimmerman needs is his own...

What might America be like today if a surprise witness had not turned the investigation of the tragic 2012 death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida, into a racially charged case that gripped the nation, spawning Black Lives Matter and setting the narrative in similar cases that followed of a nation plagued by systemic racism in law enforcement? Filmmaker Joel Gilbert asks that question in a new documentary, "The Trayvon Hoax: Unmasking the Witness Fraud that Divided America," because through old-fashioned, shoe-leather, investigative journalism he's discovered compelling evidence that the star witness America heard in the Trayvon Martin trial,...

PHOENIX — Insisting it's good from everything from civics to brain development, state lawmakers want to require students to know how to read and write in cursive. Legislation on the desk of Gov. Doug Ducey would mandate that schools include cursive reading and writing in their curriculum. Specifically, students would have to show by the end of fifth grade they are "able to create readable documents through legible cursive handwriting.'' But, unlike a requirement that students know how to read by the end of the third grade, there is nothing in the law that says students who can't display that...

Last year, George Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. But before that decision was handed down the public got the chance to hear from the young woman who was the last person to speak with Trayvon before he died, his friend Rachel Jeantel. As she testified during the case, Rachel became a public figure as the media and audiences bullied her with harsh criticisms and unfair labels. As a result of the humiliating ordeal, Rachel received an overwhelming amount of support to better her own needs and accomplish her dreams as a young woman. Now, just one year...

One year after being outed as illiterate in the trial, Jeantel is a changed woman after graduating from high school. She hopes to get a college degree, too.She did it for Trayvon. One year after being outed as illiterate in the George Zimmerman murder trial, Trayvon Martin's friend Rachel Jeantel is a changed woman after graduating from high school. Jeantel underwent seven hours of tutoring a day after her reading skills were ridiculed when she testified during the Florida trial last year at age 19. At the time, she had a fourth-grade reading level. "Very, very, very tough," she told...

It’s been just over a year since the world was introduced to Rachel Jeantel, the friend of Trayvon Martin’s who testified on behalf of the prosecution in the George Zimmerman murder trial, but may have ended up doing more harm than good. CNN caught up with Jeantel this week, asking her if she blamed herself when Zimmerman went free. “A little bit,” she replied. Asked if she should have said something different or acted differently on the stand, she answered, “Act different.” Jeantel said the jurors in the case didn’t take her seriously as a witness, judging her for...

As Rachel Jeantel’s high school graduation neared, she reminded herself of the promise she was keeping. Her slain friend, Trayvon Martin, would have wanted her to finish school, and she had promised his parents and other supporters that she would do it. And she did. The world met Jeantel during the investigation of Martin’s murder. It was disclosed that she was the last person to speak to him before he was killed by George Zimmerman. Over the course of two days, she testified as a key witness in the trial, withstanding questioning that lasted for six hours. She faced a...

Does handwriting matter? Not very much, according to many educators. The Common Core standards, which have been adopted in most states, call for teaching legible writing, but only in kindergarten and first grade. After that, the emphasis quickly shifts to proficiency on the keyboard. But psychologists and neuroscientists say it is far too soon to declare handwriting a relic of the past. New evidence suggests that the links between handwriting and broader educational development run deep. Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate...

The swirling lines from Linden Bateman’s pen have been conscripted into a national fight to keep cursive writing in American classrooms. Cursive. Penmanship. Handwriting. In years gone by, it helped distinguish the literate from the illiterate.But now, in the digital age, people are increasingly communicating by computer and smartphone. No handwritten signature necessary. Call it a sign of the times. When the new Common Core educational standards were crafted, penmanship classes were dropped. But at least seven of the 45 states that adopted the standards are fighting to restore the cursive instruction. …

Last week, Don West, defense attorney in the George Zimmerman murder trial, asked friend of Trayvon Martin and case witness Rachel Jeantel a strange question. “Are you claiming in any way that you don’t understand English?” he inquired, though she had been answering his questions in fluent English throughout much of the previous day. Jeantel, who was born and raised in Miami, insisted that she did, but West wasn’t convinced. He asked her once more whether perhaps, because her first language was Creole (transmitted to her by her Haitian mother), she had any trouble understanding English. West was not...

To quote Nancy Pelosi, we can now see what's in the Zimmerman-Martin case "without the fog of the controversy". I think the biggest lesson to be learned was from Rachel Jeantel, a friend of Trayvon Martin that testified at the trial. Rachel Jeantel has just had her 15 minutes. Predictable packaged responses full of defensive fury were covered very well by Thomas Lifson's AT article. The left has exhausted her value by attacking and chiding all white people about the racist thoughts they have decided we are feeling. They skipped the fact-gathering and evidence stage and went right for the...

Rick Ross dropped a new song today, "I Wonder Why," in which he ponders his life. On the track, Ross wonders why his brother is incarcerated and why his ambition continues to push him forward. The MMG honcho also indirectly references slain Trayvon Martin and the incident which led to his death in Rozay's home state of Florida.(PROFANE-AUDIO-AT-LINK)"Now I'm being followed by some creepy ass cracker," Ross raps, a seemingly thinly-veiled reference to vigilante George Zimmerman following Travyon. "Stand your ground! Stand your ground! You gotta stand your ground!" Ross cries. Zimmerman stood behind Florida's controversial Stand Your Ground law...

So, George Zimmerman was scared the night he shot Trayvon Martin through the heart. Know who else was probably pretty scared that night? Trayvon Martin. Surprised I’m asking? Me too. But it seems like a lot of people haven’t thought much about that. Obviously, Trayvon isn’t here to tell us how he felt. He’s dead. And a lot of folks disregarded Rachel Jeantel’s account of him being afraid even though she was the last person to hear Trayvon speak (besides Zimmerman). She heard his fear through the phone. She heard him try to run away. He was scared. And yet...

In one of many examples immediately following Zimmerman’s “not guilty” verdict, (being naturally cynical) I seriously doubt a mob of angry black “justice seekers” gave as much thought to “justice for Trayvon”, as they did to snagging 52 inch flat screens for themselves during their looting spree of a Los Angeles area Wal-Mart.

Piers Morgan clearly has no qualms about inviting people on his show who fiercely disagree with him or even attack him personally, and tonight’s opening interview with radio host Larry Elder did not disappoint. Elder told Morgan his interview with George Zimmerman trial witness Rachel Jeantel was horrendous and “condescending,” and even told Morgan that he was being “stupid” for his assessment of Jeantel’s character. On Tuesday, Elder sent out a series of angry tweets about Morgan’s interview with Jeantel, beginning with this one. Elder went on at length about underreported crime in Chicago, which Morgan agreed with, but...

Morgan then invited Elder onto his show, where the two debated Jeantel and the importance of the Zimmerman trial to black America. “I was, because you weren’t doing her any favors by condescendingly trying to convince her that she’s a victim,” Elder said. “This is a young lady who didn’t apply herself, a 19-year-old who is still in high school. Instead of saying young lady, take this as an opportunity to take stock of your life, you’re treating her like she was a victim. And that’s how you’re doing this whole thing about race and racism. Seven thousand murders last...

Trayvon Witness: It was Homophobia, not Racism Posted by Tad Cronn in Crime, Culture, Email Featured, Homosexuality, Liberal Bullying, Liberalism, Morality, Race, Racism | 23 Comments Rachel Jeantel is just the gift that won't stop running its mouth. Even after the trial of George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin, Jeantel just keeps on proving that the jury reached the right decision. Her latest foray into momentary celebrity came on Piers Morgan's talk show at CNN. Despite Morgan's best efforts to save her, Jeantel basically put the lie to the prosecution's entire case that the killing was about racism...

One of the strangest things I ever saw was the rapper Ice-T waltzing — not figuratively, but literally — across a stage in Dallas with Perry Farrell, the slightly fey singer from the band Jane’s Addiction, as the two sang a duet of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey.” This was in 1991, and though young black men had been using the word “nigger” — or, if you prefer, “nigga” — casually for some time, it was unusual for me to hear a white man under 60 using the word at all, much less repeatedly, much...

Trayvon Martin‘s friend and witness for the prosecution in the George Zimmerman trial Rachel Jeantel got an opportunity to respond directly to Rush Limbaugh during an extended interview with Marc Lamont Hill Live Wednesday morning. Despite Limbaugh’s insistence that he now his Jeantel’s permission to say “nigga” with an “a,” Jeantel said the conservative radio host’s comments did “feel racist” to her. In her first major interview since the Zimmerman trial ended, Jeantel explained to Piers Morgan Monday night the difference between “nigger” with an “-er,” which she said is a “racist” word and “nigga” with an “a,” which she...

On Huffington Post Live today, Rachel Jeantel expounded on her thoughts on what occurred when Zimmerman and Martin met face to face. "I believe Trayvon hit first," she said. She went on to describe how she believed that Trayvon throwing the first punch was likely caused by Zimmerman attempting to grab and detain Martin. (via Huff Post)