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VERDICT:
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
ACQUITTED
IN
THE KILLING
OF
TRAYVON MARTIN
Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Killing of Trayvon Martin
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FEAR/WATCH
WATCH/FEAR
+
FEAR/ARMED
UNARMED/FEAR
+
WAS
THE ARMED
NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH VOLUNTEER
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
SCARED
SCARED
SCARED
OF
THE UNARMED
TEENAGER,
CARRYING SKITTLES AND TEA,
NAMED
TRAYVON BENJAMIN MARTIN,
A BOY WEARING
BOTH
BLACK SKIN AND A BLACK HOODIE,
WHO WAS RETURNING
FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD
CONVENIENCE STORE
TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD
AND
HOME
WHERE
HE
WAS
EXPECTED TO RETURN?
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WHAT WAS
THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH VOLUNTEER
SCARED SCARED SCARED
OF?
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WHY WAS
THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH VOLUNTEER
SO SCARED SCARED SCARED
OF THE BOY HE WAS FOLLOWING
THAT HE COULD NOT
TELL THE BOY
THAT HE WAS
THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH VOLUNTEER?
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WHY WAS
THE NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH VOLUNTEER
SO SCARED SCARED SCARED
OF
THAT HE REFUSED TO FOLLOW
THE 911 DISPATCHER’S
INSTRUCTIONS
TO
NOT
FOLLOW
HIS
FEAR?
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by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed
at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
AMERICA’S STAR SPANGLED BANNER ANTHEM
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CAN AMERICANS, WE, THE PEOPLE,
SEE/ACKNOWLEDGE
OUR CONDITIONING + BIASES?
HOW DO WE ORGANIZE OUR PERCEPTIONS
IN COMPLEX SOCIAL/CULTURAL SITUATIONS?
HOW DOES OUR EXPERIENCE + BACKGROUND
SHAPE OUR LENSES?
HOW RIGID ARE OUR OUR BELIEF SYSTEMS?
DO YOU, CAN YOU, BREAK OPEN TO SEE NEW TRUTH?
DO YOU REMAIN STANDING YOUR GROUND, RIGID,
NO MATTER WHAT NEW INFORMATION PREVAILS?
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29 JUNE 2013
NEW YORK TIMES: CHARLES BLOW
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/29/opinion/blow-the-zimmerman-trial.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130629&_r=0
10 July 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/11/opinion/blow-beyond-the-courtroom.html?_r=0
11 July 2013
What about Martin’s right to ‘stand his ground?’
12 July 2013
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Sybrina And Tracy Martin Fight
Florida’s so-called “stand your ground” law will be tested in the courts this week.
In this report, Sybrina and Tracy Martin talk about their struggle
to deal with a life without their son and their fight for justice.
Travyon Martin was an unarmed teenager who was shot
by a neighborhood watchman, George Zimmerman,
on his way back from a grocery store.
His death sparked outrage in the Black community across the U.S.
Church leaders, protesters, athletes and celebrities showed their support by wearing hoodies,
the connotation-laden article of clothing that sealed Travyon’s fate.
Artist Catherine L. Johnson,
whose studio is beside the Mississippi River
in Lowertown St. Paul, Minnesota,
also used 40 loaned hoodies worldwide
in very special way.
MINT PRESS’ contributing writer, Jo Erickson,
a BBC investigative reporter/ documentary producer
interviewed the artist, Catherine L. Johnson, on 24 May 2013.
Please click on the links below.
The links provide actual time, dimension and depth to the audio podcast.
THE LINK BELOW IS ABOUT MY 911 CALL
UPON SEEING A PERSON THROWN TO THE SIDEWALK
AND
THE PERSON’S HEAD
THE VISUAL BOARDS IN THE MULTI-MEDIA INSTALLATION
HOVER OFF THE WALL, LIKE A SUSPENDED BREATH.
THE AMBIENT LIGHT REVEALS OR VEILS THE WORDS
DEPENDING ON THE POSITION
THE SONICS THEY ARE HEARING
THE PERCEPTION OF THE WORDS ARE LIKE TRIGGERS:
WHAT TRUTHS/PERCEPTIONS
PREVAILS
AND/OR
PLEASE LISTEN TO THE SONICS.
Left, Trayvon Benjamin Martin.
Right, “THE HALL OF LAMENT: STAND YOUR GROUND FOR TRAYVON MARTIN”,
a multimedia installation, April 2012, by artist Catherine L. Johnson,
used with permission.
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30 March 2012
Pamela Espeland for MINNPOST:
In response to the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin
and the stupidity of Geraldo Rivera,
white, gray, or black, used and not laundered.
The loaned hoodies will become an installation
in the fourth-floor hallway
of the Northern Warehouse on Prince Street
This has the potential to make a powerful statement.
FMI: link below
31 March 2012
Richard Chin for St. Paul Pioneer Press
Lowertown artist wants hoodies for Trayvon Martin exhibit
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Photo credit: Keith Demmings
FORTY hoodies were loaned worldwide.
The red hoodie signified Trayvon Martin.
Humanity has a heart.
All of us have a heart and blood
circulating oxygen so we can think, call, respond and breathe
– the color red is humanity’s universal color.
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Each hoodie was suspended by a wire 109″ from the ground, hovering,
with the cap down and toe tags identifying each loaner.
THE HALL OF LAMENT: STAND YOUR GROUND FOR TRAYVON MARTIN
multi-media installation
was
my
RESPONSE.
It was an elegy.
At that time, my nephew, my brother’s eldest son,
Lake, was the same age as Trayvon-a teenage boy I never met..
I was in London.
I had NOT seen Lake for 8 years.
There is a knock on the door at 1 am.
I was waiting for his return.
I open the door:
there is a tall male figure wearing
a wet
black hoodie
with his head down.
It was raining.
I did NOT know who this man was.
My initial reaction was confusion and fear.
I waited.
The teenager boy lifted his head.
It was my nephew.
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11 APRIL 2011
We simply wanted an arrest,
we wanted nothing more and nothing less,
from my heart to your heart
because a heart has no color
—it’s not black, it’s not white,
TO THE VIEWERS/PARTICIPANTS OF
STAND YOUR GROUND FOR TRAYVON MARTIN
MULTI-MEDIA INSTALLATION, APRIL 2013:
IN RESPONSE TO THE POSTED CARD
OF THE IMAGE OF A PERSON
WEARING A HOODIE:
IS THE PERSON A MAN OR WOMAN?
WHAT IS THE RACE OF THE PERSON?
WHAT IS THE AGE OF THE PERSON?
WHAT IS THE PERSON HOLDING IN THEIR POCKET?
ME, THE ARTIST, CATHERINE L. JOHNSON.
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THE INSTALLATION ALSO POSTED A MAP
BETWEEN THE HOODIES
OF WHAT STATES HAVE PASSED
THE STAND YOUR GROUND/CASTLE DOCTRINE
INTO LAW
THE SONICS ON A CONTINUOUS LOOP:
MAHALIA JACKSON SINGING ” HIS EYE IS ON THE SPARROW”
ARETHA FRANKLIN SINGING “I’LL FLY AWAY”
SYBRINA FULTON,
TRAYVON MARTIN’S MOTHER,
TAKES THE STAND
takes the stand during the George Zimmerman trial in Seminole circuit court,
July 5, 2013 in Sanford, Florida.
Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, was the first to take the stand.
She began by describing her son’s tattoos, including Fulton’s name,
which she said was on his wrist.
Prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda
played her the tape of the 911 call
the night of the fatal altercation
with former neighborhood watch captain
“Ma’am that scream or yell, do you recognize that?”
Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin:
When asked who she thought it was,
The mother of Trayvon Martin said,
“Trayvon Benjamin Martin.”
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MEDICAL EXAMINER, DR. BAO.
TRAYVON MARTIN WAS NOT KILLED INSTANTLY:
HIS HEART WAS STILL WAS BEATING…
HE WAS STILL IN PAIN…
HE WAS STILL SUFFERING.
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STATE VERSUS ZIMMERMAN
TBA
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WHAT DO YOU THINK HAPPENED THAT NIGHT?
WHAT DO YOU THINK OCCURRED TO OUR COUNTRY’S
CONSCIOUSNESS, AWARENESS BECAUSE OF THIS TRAGEDY ?
WHAT DID THIS TRAGEDY REVEAL/DISCLOSE/UNVEIL?
+
VERDICT:
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
ACQUITTED
IN THE
THE KILLING
OF
TRAYVON MARTIN.
Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Killing of Trayvon Martin
+
Martin’s parents were not in the court
during the reading of the verdict.
But his father, Tracy Martin, later tweeted that his son
would have been proud of the fight put up for him.
“Even though I am broken hearted
my faith is unshattered,”
he wrote.
“Together can make sure
that this doesn’t happen again.”
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R.I.P. TRAYVON
+
R. I. P.
TRAYVON BENJAMIN MARTIN
and
all other
AMERICAN
youths + men
who are seen through
the lenses of
FEAR
by what they are wearing:
black skin.
VISUALS: ISAIAH ( 6 PANELS) CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 2013
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 