Trayvon Martin - UPDATED

Trayvon Martin was visiting his father in a gated community in Sanford, FL on February 26, 2012.  He had walked to the store and was walking back in the rain with Skittles and a bottle of iced tea when he caught the attention of George Zimmerman.  Zimmerman was a self-appointed neighborhood watchman who had a habit of calling the police for the smallest things and of being a bit hairtrigger in his tactics.  He had called them on this night too, saying he was watching a suspicious looking guy that looked like he was "on drugs or something" because he was walking around in the rain looking at the houses.  

Seriously?

According to the 911 calls and witness accounts, Trayvon notices Zimmerman watching him.  Trayvon runs from Zimmerman, yells for help, struggles with the older, bigger man and is then shot dead.  Trayvon was 17. 

Trayvon Martin could have been my son.  Your son.  My nephew.  He could have been anyone.  Anyone's kid walking home from the store with candy and iced tea.  He wasn't doing anything that made him suspicious.  This kid was shot because he was black.

Why do I say that?  Maybe because Zimmerman was a known racist.  Or maybe it was because the boy was UNARMED and all he was doing was WALKING!  Maybe because he had the nerve to be present in a gated community, of course he didn't belong there so Zimmerman had to go and teach him a lesson.  Why else would he approach someone if he felt he saw someone suspicious and possibly dangerous enough to warrant a call to the police?  Why would he follow him when he ran off?  He didn't see him do anything other than walk in the rain with candy!  If he was that concerned for the safety of his neighbors, why would he chase a kid who may have been trouble right into the neighborhood he claims he was trying to protect?  

Any WHY is the police department allowed to overlook this cold-blooded murder and do their level best to sweep it under the rug?  What makes them think it's ok for a 17 year old kid to be shot dead and his killer to walk the streets free?!  Why are they covering up what this guy did?  If they weren't trying to cover it up, why did it take so much time and pressure from so many in order to get them to release the 911 tapes?  Recordings which clearly show that Zimmerman was the aggressor in this incident and that Trayvon was screaming for help BEFORE he was shot in cold blood.  Why are they downplaying or trying to coerce witnesses into altering their statements? 

Do I seem angry?  You're damned right I'm angry!  Everyone should be angry!  This is someone's CHILD that is DEAD for NOTHING!  For no other reason than because he was somewhere being himself.  I don't care what color you are, no one should have to worry about their children looking suspicious because they have candy (something a few kids like, just so you know) or because they're the wrong color.  Trayvon represents EVERYONE'S child.  He represents every murder that goes unpunished and every victim of some psychotic wanna be cop who puts himself in charge of the neighborhood watch. 

Now before I continue, I have to do a little disclaimer.  You see, I know this blog has a good amount of Christian readers.  It's one of the reasons I waited so long to blog about this story.  Yes, I wanted to wait to hear the 911 tapes first, but I also wanted to get my language right before I put anything up.  Don't want anyone not to read about something this important because of a few choice words.  Having said all that, I apologize for the language going forward (really isn't that bad) but there is one thing about this that REALLY pisses me off...

Why the HELL hasn't my BLACK ASS PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA had ANYTHING to say about this?!?!  Because he knows DAMNED well that before he got Secret Service protection, SOMEBODY at the country club he was patronizing asked him to fetch them another glass of scotch.  He, of ALL people, should be front and center on this because this has been him before I don't care how light he is.  The most I've heard from the White House (ain't that some sh*&) is this bullsh*& right here:  "[O]bviously we're not going to wade into a local law enforcement matter".

What the hell is that supposed to mean?  So a 17 year old black boy gunned down in cold blood doesn't bother my black ass President because it's a "local law enforcement matter"?

You know what...

I don't mess with politics here and I'm definitely going to stick with that since this is not about politicians.  This is about Trayvon Martin, a boy who I don't want to see die for nothing.  So just like so many of you fell all over yourselves reposting the Kony 2012 video, post about Trayvon Martin until your fingers bleed if you have to.  This could have been your son, nephew, brother, friend, student.  

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

UPDATE

In fairness, President Obama did make a brief statement regarding Trayvon's death yesterday at the White House.  A link to the video is here:  

http://cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/us/2012/03/23/president-obama-trayvon-martin.pool.html
 

It's clear that this is a difficult statement for him to make and yes, I do understand that especially now, as commander in chief, he has to maintain a degree of impartiality.  Having said that, his delay in making this statement is still troubling to me.  Nonetheless, since the FBI and company have become involved so for now, I'll assume he's saying a lot more with this action. 

Occupy, RIP. Linsanity, RIP. KONY2012...???

So many people are "shocked" at the news of the bizarre incident involving Jason Russell, the guy we have to thank for the whole #Kony2012 phenomenon.  He's the founder of Invisible Children, the organization behind the video that so many sheep flocked to watch, share on facebook, and retweet blindly without taking five minutes to look into the organization behind it.

A small amount of time spent on Google would have brought you plenty of information about the questionable spending habits/priorities of the organization.  People are a new level of unscrupulous these days and will not hesitate to use a real issue like child trafficking/slavery to tug at your heart AND purse strings.  Wake up and do a little research before you just throw your time, effort, and money behind the cause o' the day.  

We saw it with "Occupy" some time with other people who should be looking for jobs, we saw it with Linsanity, and we're about to watch it happen again.  Problem is, this is a real issue that deserves attention.  The RIGHT kind of attention.  Jason Russell's bad trip bizarre behavior did absolutely nothing to help this cause.  At all.  My hope is that the movement has gained a lot of new people who are sincere about helping to stop this man's atrocities and that they can weed out the bad apples.  This cause deserves nothing less.

Happy birthday to me!

I just celebrated my 38th birthday yesterday and, like most people, a bit of reflection was involved in my day.  Especially considering everything I'm going through right now.  We won't get into it, this is all about positive things and awesomeness!  I am so blessed to be walking this earth, had a couple of close calls but God has me here for a reason and I'm kind enjoying myself so I appreciate every day I get on this earth.  Even though on occasion I feel my age, most of the time I don't feel it or look it.  Thanks to my mama's awesome bloodline!  And the grace of God!

It's another day I get to call the people I love and tell them I love them.  It's another day to fight with the snooze button on my phone Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 7:30 when I actually get out of the bed.  A couple of weeks ago I couldn't even do that and as much as my job irritates me, I'm grateful I had it to go back to after months of being stuck at home.  I get another day to listen to Mike & Mike in the morning on the way to work and pray I don't get stuck in traffic and end up late.  Another day of that damn beeping in my car that won't stop and I can't figure out why.  At least I have one.  Another three minute ride to a beautifully unspoiled beach with my laptop.  One more day of being hunched over it, writing the latest whatever comes to mind...one more day to hit "publish".  

Some of it seems so silly to some people, but I appreciate the good, the bad, and the ugly because I'm here to experience it all.  It all happens for a reason anyway, so I might as well make the most out of all of it.  "See God in everything."  That's my motto, and I gotta say it does me pretty good!

Gotta love America

Michigan has done something that makes sense!  They have stripped a woman of her $200 monthly food stamps after she went on TV bragging about how she was still getting them even after she won a million dollars on a lotto game show.

She cleared a bit over $500,000 after taxes.  Showing her age (24), she went out and bought a car and two houses but she forgot to get a job while she was out doing all that.  It's been a LONG time since winning $500,000 could get  you "set for life" or even legitimize going on a huge spending spree with real estate and cars, especially when you have no job. 

She'll be broke again in a few months (if that) and when she goes back for food stamps this time she'll actually qualify, although for being that much of a loser she wouldn't deserve one penny's worth.  Especially since they're being paid for by those of us that have jobs.

I never will understand how people think they can sit on their behinds and do nothing and that everybody else is responsible for them.  Oh wait a minute.  That's how welfare works, isn't it?  What a joke.

"Shut up, woman!" (Part Two)

So Rush Limbaugh issued an apology for the mind numbingly sexist and ignorant remarks he made about Sandra Fluke.  Most likely because he was bleeding sponsors and he probably felt he had no choice.  Just like I said, he'll probably be on his best behavior for a good while, but he'll still be around, spewing the same narrow minded thinking he always has.  I truly couldn't care less.

What I do care about is what this says about how far women have come in this society, how far we still have to go, and for heaven's sake, why?  Why do we even have people who think it's right to have a discussion about an issue that affect women without having at least one woman involved in the discussion?  Why is it that there are people like Limbaugh who think it's perfectly acceptable to make remarks like that about women in a society where, at least by law, we're all created equally?  I mean, supposedly women have equal rights.  Or is that only as long as we "know our place"?

I believe that we, as women, have to accept our share of responsibility for the fact that this type of mentality still exists.  We have to conduct ourselves in a manner that commands respect.  If we want to be seen as women and not objects, we can't objectify ourselves by doing things that demean us as women.  We have to respect ourselves first and make that self respect OBVIOUS to those around us in the way that we behave and the way that we conduct ourselves.

We have to start using our brains to get ahead, not our bodies and our looks, which fade I don't care how much plastic surgery there is.  Women spend so much money buying fake breasts, behinds, lips, and hair because society wants us to believe that the more attractive we are physically, the more money there is for us.  That may be the case for a little while, especially if we want to be video models or strippers, industries created specifically to exploit women.

We need to spend money on educating ourselves instead of buying body parts that we weren't meant to have in the first place.  If more of us start using our brains to get ahead instead of using our bodies we may have more opportunities presented to us that require the use of our brains and not our looks.  Then we may be taken more seriously.

It's much hotter to be a smart rich girl.  When the wrinkles on your face stop you from paying the bills, you always have the ones in your brain to fall back on.  I think we'll do ourselves a great justice to put this into more frequent practice.

"Shut up, woman!" (Part One)

So this whole recent firestorm about the birth control issue and Rush Limbaugh and his big mouth has me pretty irritated.  First, the whole situation is a mess to begin with.  How do you have a panel to discuss women's reproductive issues that consists of a bunch of rich old white guys?  Didn't we straighten this whole thing out back in the 70's?  LAST century?  Why is it being brought up again and why in the world is it being addressed by everyone but the people who take the pill in the first place? What a JOKE!  Guess that's why so many prescription plans pay for Viagra but don't want to pay for the pill.  The plans that do pay for the pill are probably behind this whole movement, but I'm sure they'll still help with your Viagra buddy. 

And then you have Rush Limbaugh's mouth.  Rush seems to think that Sandra Fluke is a "slut" and a "prostitute" because "she wants to be paid to have sex".  Extremism at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.  But he didn't stop there.  The next day he says that if we're to pay for her birth control, we want video of all her sexual exploits so that we could all watch.  The hell?  Would ANYONE in radio have DARED to make a remark like this about a man?  What kind of idiot says this stuff and thinks it's ok?  But it probably will be.  Let's face it, next year this time, Rush will probably still have his radio show and he'll still be spewing complete ignorance that a lot of people like and he'll do something stupid like this again very soon.

It's really too bad, to me, that women are still so low on the social totem pole and still so sexually objectified.  To the point that a politico who doesn't like what a woman stands for uses sexually charged terminology to voice his disagreement with her views.  Here's a young woman studying law, being brave enough to step in front of the world and voice her concerns.  This after getting doors shut in her face because there was no room at the table for a woman to debate birth control because the table's full of men.  Ms. Fluke should be seen as a role model for young women and girls who want to study law or who are afraid of what may happen if they stand up for something they believe in.   Yet because she decided to speak up for what's important to her, she's publicly degraded and in a sexual way because she's a female.

If he was trying to make the point that if you can't afford to pay for birth control you shouldn't have sex, well, it's an excellent point.  I actually agree, however, that is not the reality of the world we are living in today.  That may well have been the case in the 30's, which is apparently where he thinks we are now, but we're actually in 2012 Rush.  We should certainly have evolved enough that we remember that we're all created equal.  I would hope things have improved to the point that if people feel a need to insult someone because they disagree with someone else's point of view, they can do it without such a filthy way of insulting the holder of the offending opinion.  But what I wish people like him would do is just sit somewhere and shut the hell up.

I mean, that's basically what he wants Sandra Fluke to do, right?  Why so much vitriol in his remarks?  It's this whole, "Shut up, woman!" mentality.  Joan of Arc, Hilary Clinton (though I wish she would), the Suffragettes, hell, Gisele Bundchen!  They were basically told to go somewhere and be seen and not heard.

(to be continued)