Community rallies for Trayvon Martin

Skittles, iced tea and hoodies have become the most recent symbols for racial profiling, and… Skittles, iced tea and hoodies have become the most recent symbols for racial profiling, and those objects were present as around 500 people rallied on Monday to observe the one month anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s death.

Students, faculty and citizens gathered on Carnegie Mellon’s campus waving signs and wearing hoodies during the Justice for Trayvon Martin Rally, organized by CMU’s Black Graduate Student Organization.

During the hour-long rally, a few Pitt and CMU students each spoke briefly about their own encounters with racial profiling and discrimination and outlined what citizens can do to achieve justice in the case of Trayvon Martin.

Martin was a 17-year-old black man who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fl., a suburb of Orlando. Martin was walking through a gated community on Feb. 26 when Zimmerman, who had called 911 to report Martin as a suspicious person, began following him. Soon after, Martin was fatally wounded after Zimmerman shot him in the chest. Martin was unarmed, only carrying a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.

Zimmerman, a white Hispanic man, claims he shot Martin in self-defense, but the case has led to accuations of racial profiling by the media.

Participants at the rally wore hoodies and passed around bags of Skittles and bottles of iced tea, the same items Martin had with him when he was shot, according to reports.

Brittany Claud, vice president of CMU’s Black Graduate Student Organization and co-organizer of the rally, opened up the event by urging people to come together to fight stereotypes. She said people need to become more involved in government to change the laws that are keeping police from arresting Zimmerman.

“Today we are here demanding justice,” Claud said.

Florida’s self-defense laws allow people to use deadly force without trying to first flee the scene when they feel threatened. Critics of the “Stand Your Ground” laws say they might allow for lethal force in cases that don’t warrant it, pointing to cases including Zimmerman’s.

Christopher Lindsay, president of the Impact Movement, a Christian leadership organization at CMU, also spoke at the rally. He recounted the racial discrimination he has experienced at CMU and emphasized the responsibility of all Americans to fight stereotypes.

Lindsay said that although he sometimes jokes about racial stereotypes with his friends, he feels that most people, along with himself, can vastly underestimate “the effects of assumptions.”

People in the crowd waved signs that read “I am Trayvon” and “Castle Doctrine Kills.”

The Castle Doctrine is another controversial self-defense law, and both Pennsylvania and Florida have similar ones in the books. It allows for the use of deadly force when somebody trespasses on another person’s property, even if it isn’t clear that the trespasser has any malicious intent.

In Martin’s case, he was not on Zimmerman’s property, so the Castle Doctrine would not apply to the shooting.

Kimberly Ellis, owner of a publishing and marketing company and visiting Africana Studies professor at Pitt, also spoke at the rally, urging students to be more knowledgeable about their local officials and participate more frequently in all elections.

“Students, you need to do your homework,” Ellis said. “You have to know what’s happening.”

Ellis said that it isn’t enough to show up at a rally and wear a hoodie. She insisted that all participants know exactly who is in their government and who is enforcing the laws, reminding all that they are elected officials.

Ricky Burgess, president of CMU’s Black Graduate Student Organization, wrapped up the speeches by encouraging people to come together and “fight the tendency to stereotype and typecast” one another. He argued that working toward a more accepting culture will overcome the fear and distrust that exists among people.

After the rally started, many people stayed to sign petitions demanding that Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, be prosecuted and brought to justice. Organizers were also registering people to vote on computers set up at the site.

CMU’s Black Graduate Student Organization has plans to host more intimate town hall meetings in the future. The meetings would inform people about local officials and the legislature that exists in their own states and counties.

Claud said that she thought the rally was “hugely successful” and that the speakers did well in “highlighting culturalism and making it very relatable” for all who attended.