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| Protesters point toward the Courthouse Annex building as speakers call for State Attorney's resignation |
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| People gather in front of Alabama Capitol |
The Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network organized
“Justice for Trayvon” rallies across US on Saturday, July 20, 2013, in reaction
to the recent George Zimmerman acquittal.
People gathered to press for federal civil rights charges
against the former neighborhood watch leader, and to call for changes in the
nation's self-defense laws, one week after a jury found George Zimmerman not
guilty in the shooting death of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin.
The Florida
case has become a flashpoint in separate but converging national debates over
self-defense, guns, and race relations. Zimmerman, who successfully claimed
that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin, identifies himself as
Hispanic. Martin was black!
For some attendees, particularly those who are black, the
rallies seemed as much about those larger issues as about the verdict.
"It's personal," said Cincinnati resident Chris Donegan, whose
11-year-old son wore a hoodie to the rally, as Martin did the night he died.
"Anybody who is black with kids, Trayvon Martin became our son."
The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network organized the
"Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in
at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kan., and
Atlanta, where people stood in the rain at the bases of two federal buildings,
with traffic blocked on surrounding downtown streets.
Chants rang out across the rallies. "Justice! Justice!
Justice! ... Now! Now! Now!" "'We won't forget." ''No justice!
No peace!" Many also sang hymns, prayed and held hands.
And plenty of participants carried signs: "Who's
next?" "I am Trayvon Martin." ''Enough Is Enough."
Most rallies began at noon. In
New York, hundreds of people — including
Martin's mother, Sybrina Fulton, and music superstars Jay-Z and Beyonce —
gathered in the heat. Supercouple Beyonce and Jay Z joined the proceedings when demonstrators reached
New York City police
headquarters.
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Beyonce and Jay Z with Sybrina Fulton and Rev. Al Sharpton [Twitter/@TheRevAl]
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"Jay Z and Beyonce said they didn't want to speak and
they didn't come for a photo op," Sharpton told demonstrators.
"Jay Z told me, 'I'm a father. Beyonce is a mother.' We all feel the pain
and apprehension. The laws must protect everybody, or it doesn't protect
anybody”.
In addition to pushing the Justice Department to investigate civil rights charges against Zimmerman, Sharpton told supporters that he wants to see a rollback of "stand your ground" self-defense
"We are trying to change laws so that this never, ever happens again," Sharpton said.
Fulton
told the crowd she was determined to fight for societal and legal changes
needed to ensure that black youths are no longer viewed with suspicion because
of their skin color.
"I promise you I'm going to work for your children as
well," she told the crowd.
At a morning appearance at Sharpton's headquarters in Harlem, she implored people to understand that the
tragedy involved more than Martin alone.
"Today it was my son. Tomorrow it
might be yours," she said.
In Atlanta,
speakers noted that the rally occurred in the shadows of federal buildings
named for two figures who had vastly differing views on civil rights and racial
equality: Richard B. Russell was a Georgia governor and U.S. senator elected in
the Jim Crow South; Martin Luther King Jr. is the face of African-Americans'
civil rights movement.
"History would suggest that we have plenty of data to
be worried when we see other folk moving through our neighborhoods in hoods.
Some of them have on pinstripe suits — but in their hearts, they're wearing a
hood."
In Indianapolis,
the Rev. Jeffrey Johnson told roughly 200 attendees that Saturday's nationwide
rallies were about making life safer for young black men, who he said are still
endangered by racial profiling.
"The verdict freed George Zimmerman, but it condemned America more," said Johnson, pastor of the Eastern Star
Church in Indianapolis and a member of the board of
directors of the National Action Network.
In Miami,
Tracy Martin spoke about his son.
"This could be any one of our children," he said.
"Our mission now is to make sure that this doesn't happen to your
child."
He recalled a promise he made to his son as he lay in his
casket. "I will continue to fight for Trayvon until the day I die,"
he said.
Speaking at the White House on Friday, Obama said it's a
reality for black men in American to
"be followed in a department
store" while shopping or to walk down the street and "hear the car
doors lock." The nation's first black president said he had both
experiences before he rose to social and political prominence.
At the New Orleans
rally, La'Monte Johnson shared a similar story. The California
native said he's been stopped multiple times by police and handcuffed
"because I fit the description of someone they were looking for,"
though he noted charges were never filed against him.
"You can be the greatest black guy around, but you
can't get away from it," he said. "You're not equal."
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