"WE ARE TRAYVON MARTIN"

Trayvon Martin

This is an article Pastor Nimmons wrote for the April edition of the Greater Grace Temple Newsletter regarding the case surrounding the death of slain teen Trayvon Martin.

 

It seems that the spirit of violence has encapsulated not just the city of Detroit but the entire country. Everywhere we look there appears to be some more news about a violent altercation or event that’s taken place in one of our cities across this country. Recently, the nation and even the world has come together in support of the family of slain teenager Trayvon Martin, who was tragically killed by self-proclaimed neighborhood watchmen “George Zimmerman” for simply looking “suspicious.” Trayvon was shot and killed inside a gated community in Sanford Florida by Zimmerman; who has yet to be arrested, because of the State of Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Protest and demonstrations have taken place all across the country, in hopes of shedding more light on this case and ultimately bringing Zimmerman to justice. 

Abreya Jones & Ashely Brown; two Hamtramck women recently killed

 This case hits home in so many ways and for so many people, as we see this spirit of violence plaguing our city.  During a rally for Trayvon Martin in this past Monday, people dawned hoodies and held picket signs demonstrating and protesting this senseless killing. Some also spoke out about the recent homicides and murders in our city. What about the Bianca Jones, or the two women who were killed in Hamtramck, along with countless others. While it is easy to separate and segment each of these crimes by location and circumstance, there are more things that tie them together than what separates them. If we want this violence to end, we can no longer see this as a Detroit problem or a Sanford problem, but this is a people problem. And, ultimately when we cry out for Trayvon, we are also crying out for the hundreds and thousands of young people that are loosing their lives everyday around this country. John Donne said it best, “No man is an island entire of himself, every man is apart of the continent, apart of the main. If a man dies it diminishes me for I am involved with mankind. So, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”

All of us are affected by the loss of even one life, and not knowing someone shouldn’t preclude us from empathizing with their personal pain and struggles. At the end of day we all are human, regardless of race creed or color. At the end of day, we all ARE TRAYVON MARTIN!