Los Angeles and West Adams specifically will soon be welcoming a new institution made for us, by us! The Gathering Spot, an intentional private membership club focused on the people and the community will be coming this fall to unite and stimulate the Black community.
When #TrayvonMartin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted on July 13, 2013, the world erupted and our co-founder Alicia Garza penned a love letter to Black people, closing with the words “Black Lives Matter.” The words, amplified by Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi, became a rallying cry for those with the vision and will to end state-sanctioned violence against Black people and build a world of freedom and justice.
According to the Census Bureau post-enumeration survey, 800,000 African Americans went uncounted. What does this mean? It means once again, the voice of African Americans was denied. Many programs that impact African Americans are based in whole or part on data derived from the Census. History proves the disenfranchisement of Black people socially, politically and financially. Another ten years cannot pass before we realize how vital the United States Census is to the United States democracy.
Opponents of the ban fear that it would give police another reason to profile African Americans.
Delucca “Lucca” Rolle, the 15-year-old high school student who was punched and had his head slammed against the concrete by law enforcement officers last month, joined his attorney and several prominent civil rights activists in a peaceful demonstration in Florida to denounce police brutality. Rolle and others chanted, “Justice will be served,” as they marched toward New Mount Baptist Church in Fort Lauderdale. Attorney and activist Ben Crump, Broward/Fort Lauderdale NAACP president Marsha Ellison, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) President and CEO Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., Westside Gazette Publisher Bobby Henry and the late Trayvon Martin’s Mother Sybrina Fulton,
“We need to make sure we convey the message that the only crime committed on that day was not from the young man, the black children that were there, but from the two deputies and the way they manhandled those kids,” said local NAACP President Marsha Ellison.
Seven years ago today, Trayvon Benjamin Martin was gunned down on a dark street in what was supposed to be a safe gated community in Sanford, Florida. His murderer George Zimmerman walked away free, due to Flordia’s Stand Your Ground law, old school racism and systemic racial flaws within the US Criminal justice system.
“The assertion that there is no substantial differential racial impact in jury selection, however well intended, has been largely discredited by research and diminished by detached observation,” said Dr. Lorenzo Morris, a professor of Political Science at Howard University.
Righteous outrage must be sustainable.it is necessary to bring about the political pressure crucial for actual long range change. Of course, ultimately, it is the responsibility of the Black community itself to forge its own future which requires new mindsets and most important, new behavior. Developing sustainable righteous outrage is only one of other important tasks that collectively, we must undertake as part of a self-determined Black agenda.
Tallahassee mayor and candidate for FL Governor Andrew Gillum has called for current Governor Rick Scott to issue an Executive Order and suspend the controversial “Stand your Ground” law. In 2012, the law garnered world-wide attention when George Zimmerman murdered Trayvon Martin and was found not guilty of the racist crime because of the law. Watch the mayor call for the executive order at a recent press conference.
Court records show Zimmerman was issued a summons for a May 30 arraignment on a charge of misdemeanor stalking.
Blacks must work cooperatively among themselves and collaborate with allies to reduce the likelihood of current and future Trayvon Martins being killed again and again.”