Boing Boing » george zimmerman

Million Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin under way in NYC

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 23:26:41 +0000

A large crowd of protesters, between 2,000 and 5,000 by various estimates, are marching through the streets of New York right now to draw attention to the killing of Trayvon Martin. The Florida teen was shot to death last month, in a case that has generated widespread outrage online.

Tim Pool has been running a live video stream of the march.

Here's a quick link to the relevant Twitter hashtag (#millionhoodiemarch), to follow tweets from people who are there. Seems like a lot of youth are present at this one, perhaps more so than at recent Occupy marches in New York. People are wearing hoodies, carrying bottles of iced tea and throwing Skittles in the air: Trayvon was wearing one, and holding that candy and beverage when he was shot. So far, police presence is high, but interactions are peaceful, and the crowd is doing its thing without much NYPD aggression. That could change before the night is through.

The parents of the slain teen are present, and addressed the crowd earlier.

#Trayvon's mother at #millionhoodiemarch: "This is not abt a black and white, this is abt a right and wrong." #POWERFUL
— Charles M. Blow (@CharlesMBlow) March 21, 2012

Heard that a local news outlet claimed that there were dozens of people out here. There are thousands. #millionhoodies
— EBONY Magazine (@EBONYMag) March 21, 2012

Union sq panoramic #trayvonmartin twitter.com/Timcast/status…
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) March 21, 2012

I was going to the march. The march came to me #millionhoodiemarch lockerz.com/s/194581782
— Questo of The Roots (@questlove) March 21, 2012

The chanting of 'we are all tray on Martin' got deafening. Crunch of skittles underfoot. #OWS #TravyonMartin #UnionSq
— Laurie Penny (@PennyRed) March 22, 2012

As of 8pm NYC time, the Associated Press and other news outlets still insist on reporting that only "hundreds" are participating in the march, despite evidence to the contrary. ABC News pegged the number at "dozens." As if.

As the march continues, two stories related to the case are breaking: city commissioners in Sanford, Florida have voted "no confidence" in the local police chief presiding over the case. Republican lawmakers in Florida who pushed a controversial self-defense law say it shouldn't apply to George Zimmerman, the shooter who killed Trayvon.

(photos: top, @occupywallst; inset, @xLovePatricia)

The murder of Trayvon Martin

Xeni Jardin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 00:38:11 +0000

Trayvon Martin, 17 (above), was shot to death on February 26 while walking to his dad's girlfriend's house from a convenience store just north of Orlando, Florida. He was unarmed, wearing a hoodie, and carrying some Skittles and iced tea he purchased at the mini-mart.

George Zimmerman, 28 (inset), is the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Trayvon. Zimmerman told police he shot the young man in self-defense. As more information about the incident emerges, this explanation sounds increasingly less plausible.

The case has sparked widespread interest and outrage online, in part because Zimmerman remains free, and Trayvon was an innocent kid doing nothing wrong, who cried out for help as he was attacked. His only threat, it seems, was being a black male.

A roundup of links for further reading and following, as the case evolves:

• Mother Jones has an excellent explainer piece here, and ongoing coverage.
• A New York Times item today: US Grand Jury opens an investigation into the killing. Related news about FBI involvement at the Miami Herald.
• A phone call from Trayvon to a 16-year-old female friend sparks new demands for Zimmerman's arrest.
• "How we can leverage the anger over individual incidents into a larger restructuring of perceptions and justice," asks journalist Farai Chideya. "It’s easy to work up ire about individual cases, but harder to work on systemic change." She's on Twitter here.
• Charles Blow at the New York Times has been on the story. One item is here, but his Twitter feed is well worth a follow for ongoing (and paywall-free) updates.
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, senior editor for The Atlantic, has been reporting on the case as well. He's updating on Twitter, too.
• The blog for MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry show is a good source of updates, and the show itself has been covering the case as well.
• Think Progress has a "what everyone should know" post here.
• Zimmerman has been variously identified as "White," and "White Hispanic." An NPR opinion piece asks, What if he were black?
• At the Huffington Post, Trymaine Lee has been on the story for weeks, with strong reporting. Worth a Twitter follow. • Farai Chideya points to this Trendsmap of where in the US the #trayvon hashtag is currently trending.

(Thanks to all of my Twitter followers who shared suggestions for good sources of coverage.)