The Whole System Failed
+
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.
I AM WEARING A BLACK WORDLESS VOICELESS BLANK CARD.
R.I.P. TRAYVON
+
SHAME ON FLORIDA.
GUNS + RIGHT TO KILL LAWS + SUN = FUN.
NOT.
+
Zimmerman’s Acquittal Reverberates,
Setting Off Protests and Talk of Race
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/15/us/debate-on-race-and-justice-is-renewed.html?_r=0
+
VERDICT:
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN
ACQUITTED
IN
THE KILLING
OF
TRAYVON MARTIN
Zimmerman Is Acquitted in Killing of Trayvon Martin
+
FEAR/WATCH
WATCH/FEAR
+
FEAR/ARMED
UNARMED/FEAR
+
WAS
THE ARMED
SCARED
SCARED
SCARED
+
+
+
+
What so proudly we hailed
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?
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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?
+
29 JUNE 2013
NEW YORK TIMES: CHARLES BLOW
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
What the Zimmerman Trial Was About
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/07/what-the-zimmerman-trial-was-about.html
+
+
PODCAST:
+
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.
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THE LINK BELOW IS ABOUT MY 911 CALL
UPON SEEING A PERSON THROWN TO THE SIDEWALK
AND
THE PERSON’S HEAD
BEING REPEATEDLY KICKED.
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
OF THE VIEWER
AND
THE LIGHT
AS WELL AS
THE SONICS THEY ARE HEARING
AND
WHAT THEY ARE SEEING.
THE PERCEPTION OF THE WORDS ARE LIKE TRIGGERS:
WHAT ONE RECALLS,
REMEMBERS,
SUPPRESSES
OR
WHAT TRUTHS/PERCEPTIONS
PREVAILS
AND/OR
EMERGES.
PLEASE LISTEN TO THE SONICS.
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Left, Trayvon Benjamin Martin.
+
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In response to the tragic shooting of Trayvon Martin
white, gray, or black, used and not laundered.
The loaned hoodies will become an installation
This has the potential to make a powerful statement.
FMI: link below
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.
+
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.
+
“I want to thank God.
We simply wanted an arrest,
we wanted nothing more and nothing less,
and we got it.
And, I say Thank You,”
“Secondly,
I just want to speak
from my heart to your heart
because a heart has no color
—it’s not black, it’s not white,
it’s red
and
I want to say thank you
from my heart
to you heart.”
SYBRINA FULTON
+
QUESTIONS
THE HALL OF LAMENT:
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:
ANSWER:
+
THE STAND YOUR GROUND/CASTLE DOCTRINE
+
+
5 JULY 2013
Trayvon Martin’s mother,
Sybrina Fulton,
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
George Zimmerman.
+
PROSECUTOR de la Rionda:
“Ma’am that scream or yell, do you recognize that?”
Sybrina Fulton, Mother of Trayvon Martin:
“Yes.”
When asked who she thought it was,
The mother of Trayvon Martin said,
“Trayvon Benjamin Martin.”
+
HIS HEART WAS STILL WAS BEATING…
HE WAS STILL IN PAIN…
HE WAS STILL SUFFERING.
+
STATE VERSUS ZIMMERMAN
TBA
+
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.”
+
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.
CATHERINE L. JOHNSON 