I am a 5’4″, 114lbs, 28 1/2 year old stay at home single mother of a 2 year old toddler who is educated, volunteers & donates to charity, works in entertainment, has started a non profit for education, a registered democrat, a tax payer, God fearing Catholic who lives in a Los Angeles suburb. I also happen to be black.
You know I didn’t realize how scary or threatening I can be. Every time I wear a hoodie when it’s raining or I’m working out or it’s cold, I suppose I should wear a sign that lists how American I am so that I don’t scare people. Perhaps I should carry a bracelet like a Medic-Alert that has all of my non threatening information on it, assuring folks that I am one of the good non threatening young minorities. That way when I’m walking down the street where my hood is covering my head from the cold, but my brown hands are exposed, the white man I pass on the street doesn’t fear me. Or maybe I should just not wear a hoodie anymore. Maybe I shouldn’t wear my hair naturally and curly. I should make sure to never stroll down the street with my hands in my pockets.
Geraldo made a statement that African American & Latino parents should know better than to let their children walk around with hoodies on because people will fear them. That’s the hood will give people cause to arrest, frisk and/or harass them. He actually stated that the hoodie was as much to blame for Trayvon’s murder as is Zimmerman. Yes, you read that right! This fool not only said, but then he tweeted it! Okay, well guess what? Zimmerman is not a police officer. Trayvon did not need to keep his hands and face in plain view of Zimmerman. Zimmerman sought him out and approached him. Trayvon didn’t put his hoodie on until he felt someone following him. Before that he was a teenager walking down the street in a sweatshirt on a cold rainy night. Unless the boy was picking a lock or peering through someone’s window, I’m not sure how he falls under a suspicious category. So its actually NOT the hoodie’s fault…it’s actually the ignorant vigilante’s fault this boy is dead!
People are very quick to tell us that racism doesn’t exist. They are quick to remind us that WE are all Americans. But those people have never walked onto a bus and had people clutch their purses when you pass by. Those people have never been followed around a store. Those people have never had to worry about their son’s being harassed on the way home from school because they wear their pants a little loose. Those people have never been THE only person of that race in a neighborhood or classroom or town. Yes WE are ALL Americans, and so we have a duty to make sure that we all FEEL like American and not strangers in our own country. People are living in ignorance out of fear. Fear is getting children killed.
It’s time to take a stand! If you’re in Los Angeles be at City Hall Park TODAY at 4 pm. Hoodie up and take a stand. It’s time to be heard and move toward real freedom and equality once and for all. We shouldn’t have anymore Trayvon Martin’s!
