A Cell Phone, A Can of Tea and a Bag of Skittles

So much has been said about the George Zimmerman verdict in the last few hours.  Many journalist, activists, politicians etc. are spending countless hours and much effort trying to determine how we came to the place that George Zimmerman walked out of the courtroom a free man.  I followed the trial from the beginning and sadly, I have to admit I was not surprised.  I don’t have the energy to play the blame game and to try to figure out who’s responsible for the outcome. I can’t take my emotions on that roller coaster ride yet again.  What I can do is simply make some acknowledgements en light of the outcome.

I acknowledge that the criminal justice system—especially in the state of Florida-- is designed to protect folk other than those who are like Trayvon Benjamin Martin or who were in the position he found himself in on that rainy February night.  Most of all, I acknowledge that the main issue that got lost in the details and debates of this case is that Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17 YEAR OLD BOY. 

In listening to the various witness testimonies, cross examinations, etc.,  it somehow got lost that this was a 17 year old BOY; not yet a man.  He didn’t have the right to vote, he didn’t have the right to purchase and conceal a weapon as George Zimmerman did and he didn’t even have the right to serve in the armed forces.

The prosecution spent countless hours trying to determine who was on top and whose voice was heard on the 911 recording screaming for help.  Those hours were wasted in my opinion. Regardless to who was on top or who was yelling for help, Trayvon Benjamin Martin had the RIGHT to be walking to his father’s fiancé’s house.  He had the RIGHT to be in the neighborhood. He certainly had the RIGHT to walk through the neighborhood without being pursued by an armed neighborhood watchman.  The prosecution failed to present Trayvon Benjamin Martin as a 17 year old BOY who was doing what 17 year old BOYS do; going to the neighborhood store, buying drinks and snacks, and talking on their cell phones. That’s what they do.

If the prosecution had perhaps angled their case around the fact that Trayvon Benjamin Martin was SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD and was doing what 17 year olds do, perhaps the tone of the case would have been a bit different. It was never clear to me during their questioning and their presentation of the facts that Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a child.  The point as to whether it was Trayvon Benjamin Martin’s voice on the tape or whether it was George Zimmerman’s voice should have been a mute point had the prosecution angled the case differently.  Why do I say that? I’m glad you asked…..

From the time children are in elementary school and before, we teach them that if anybody approaches their personal space and makes them feel uncomfortable,  SCREAM BLOODY MURDER.   We tell them:  “If a stranger approaches you and you feel threatened;  punch, kick, bite, scratch, yell, scream and do whatever you can to draw attention.”  Could that not have been what Trayvon Benjamin Martin was doing on that rainy night in February of 2012? Couldn’t the prosecutors have presented that theory? Would the 6 women (5 of whom were mothers themselves) not have understood that theory?

Regardless to Trayvon Benjamin Martin’s physicality or George Zimmerman’s physicality, Trayvon Benjamin Martin felt threatened. Rachel Jeantel testified to that no matter how you might feel about her testimony. 

When a person is faced with what Trayvon Benjamin Martin was faced with that night, their instinct is to “Fight or Flee”.  We have always known that.  Trayvon Benjamin Martin’s first response was to Flee; and he did.  He was confronted again and the second time he chose to FIGHT.  Did he break George’s Zimmerman’s nose? Did he beat his head against the concrete? How did this 17 year old BOY overpower a grown man? Well, how do people perform incredible acts like removing heavy objects from their bodies when trapped under rubble from a fallen building? How does a 125 pound woman lift herself from under a car when she has been pinned in a car accident? How did Aron Lee Ralston find the strength to amputate his own arm with a dull “multi-tool” to free himself from a fallen boulder that had him trapped for 5 days. How did he repel down a 65 foot cliff to safety after performing the amputation? It’s called “survival instinct”. All these people knew their lives were in danger.  Trayvon Benjamin Martin felt his life was in danger when he was hunted down by George Zimmerman on that rainy night; and it was.  He was simply trying to save his own life.  Unfortunately, he was not able to.

How did the prosecution miss this angle? It’s actually not much of a surprise to me.  From many years working in the criminal justice system—particularly with juveniles—I know for certain that the system doesn’t recognize a 17 year old black BOY as a child.  The perception of the system is that he is an adult. The prosecution presented the case in that manner. They spent hours trying to counter the defense with the fact that he was not the aggressor when they should have spent time presenting him as a 17 year old BOY that was minding his business and doing what 17 year old BOYS do. Instead, they concentrated their efforts on defending what he did in response to George Zimmerman although he had EVERY right to react in that way. They totally missed it.

Trayvon Benjamin Martin was a 17 year old BOY. Nothing proves that like a Cell Phone, a Can of Tea and a Bag of Skittles.

#justicefortrayvon