"We Are Not Trayvon Martin"

I am writing this post as a response for a Blog that's called "We Are Not Trayvon Martin."  Please check it out, read, THINK and ACT!  Please, I encourage you to add your own version as a comment below!
http://wearenottrayvonmartin.tumblr.com/

I am not Trayvon Martin, but I do love to wear my hoodies!   No, I am not Trayvon--I am a petite, white, 30-something woman.  Do I look suspicious, too?!  I am not Trayvon, but like him, behind that hoodie and some shadows lies a uniquely created human being with a family, with friends, with dreams, with fears, with love, with laughter and with tears... so much more than a "suspicious person" or "fucking punk."  I am not Trayvon Martin, but I am a person sharing this planet with many other persons, and as they say in Key West, Florida: "We are all equal members in one human family." 

I am not Trayvon Martin.  I am a lower-middle class English teacher.  I have taught many 17 year-old Trayvons and Davons and Devins and Kevins.  The injustice of this acquittal feels like someone just slaughtered one of my former high school students, my babies, and got a way with it.  When I talk to my current college students about the outcome of this trial, the hairs on my arms stands up straight, and I get the chills...tears come to my eyes as I try to speak.

I am not Trayvon Martin.  When people see me, they haven't been programmed to be afraid of me.  The media hasn't taught anyone that I am a gangsta or pimp or drug dealer or criminal of any kind.  People don't teach their children to fear me or avoid me or suspect me of anything.  As a child, my role models were not gansta rappers like Lil Wayne.  I didn't see myself that way, nor did others see me as a potential gangsta.  I never got followed in a store while I was shopping because no one assumed I was shoplifting.  I never got pulled over when driving out of spite.  I never had to fear being abused, incarcerated, endangered, mistrusted, or hated because of my skin color.

I am not Trayvon Martin.  I've never been followed in the dark by a man with a gun.  No paranoid vigilantes have ever hunted me down.  I've never been racially profiled to the extent that it endangered my life.  Society and culture do not assume that I am a trouble maker, that I am lazy, or that I am a threat.  People don't look at me and automatically assume I am a criminal or that I do drugs.  I am not Trayvon Martin, but if a black man shot me in the dark, do you honestly think he would be acquitted of all charges?!

I am not Trayvon Marin.  I am alive today.  I will get to hug my mom and tell her how much I love her.  I got to go to work this morning and do what I love--teach. I got to have my Mountain Dew this morning. 

I am not Trayvon Martin, but I will continue to use my voice to stand up for our Trayvons and our Davons and our Devins, Kevins, Mariahs, Marias, Marys, and Monicas.  I will fight for our children and for a better world.  I will teach my students to look critically at what they see and hear and experience in the world. I will try to teach them tolerance and compassion and understanding in any way I can. I will continue to share my motto for life, a saying by Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  I will live that motto to the best of my abilities.  I will not forget Trayvon or his family.  I will not forget the strength and patience his parents have shown through this horrific ordeal.  I will never forget the image forever burned in my soul of Trayvon's corpse lying still and limp on the concrete that night.  I will fight against hate.  I will fight against prejudice.   I will fight against intolerance.  I will not stay silent when I see injustice.

I am not Trayvon Martin, but he is my brother.  I mourn for him.  I mourn for his family.  I mourn for our children, our country and our world.  It is time for ALL OF US to EVOLVE and ELIMINATE HATE!