As the Trayvon Martin Case Goes to the Jury…
THE RESPONSE THAT'S NEEDED – THE WORLD WE WANT TO LIVE IN!
A Statement by Carl Dix
July 12, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
As the trial of George Zimmerman, the vigilante and wannabe cop who murdered Trayvon Martin, comes to a close, we should look squarely at what has been revealed. The killing of Trayvon was a modern-day lynching. Zimmerman saw a Black youth wearing a hoodie, decided he "was up to no good," stalked him, and, feeling the whole strength of the system behind him, shot young Trayvon.
In court, Zimmerman's defense, with its parade of "experts," family, and friends, boiled down to the supposed right to kill people like Trayvon with impunity. If George Zimmerman walks free again, it will serve as a high-profile declaration and further rationalization for placing a target on the backs of a whole generation.
Everyone with an ounce of justice in their hearts needs to stand against the murder of Trayvon Martin. People of different nationalities and from different backgrounds must stand together in this. Fighting the oppression of Black people, fighting the criminalization and brutalization of Black people in this country and the new Jim Crow, is in the interests of all those who have a conscience and want to live in a just society.
*Take up the Call from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network (SMIN) to organize vigils when the case goes to the jury. These vigils can be organized everywhere, and different kinds of people can be involved in them.
*Plan to act when it is announced that the jury has reached a verdict—in powerful, determined, and creative ways. Select the time and place where people should gather… and spread the word.
*Circulate the "We Say No More" statement from SMIN. This statement sharply condemns Trayvon's murder and links it to the 2 million + people in prison in the U.S.
This is the challenge. Regardless of what the verdict is, a mass response is needed. The message that must be sent is that the Trayvons of this world have a right to survive and flourish, and should get justice when they're attacked. It's about the kind of world we want to live in.
And if people who take to the streets come under attack, we must all have their backs. Authorities who criminalize and brutalize people cannot be allowed to beat, corral, pepper-spray or do worse against the people for opposing their brutality.
Trayvon's murder and the trial of his killer have laid bare the illegitimacy of this whole setup. Let's not forget that it took thousands of people all across the U.S. expressing outrage to force the authorities to put Zimmerman on trial. In the courtroom, reality got turned on its head. Trayvon was portrayed as the criminal and Zimmerman as the victim. Rachel Jeantel, the young woman who was on the phone with Trayvon when he was killed, was bullied by Zimmerman's lawyer for telling the truth.
This case concentrates the oppression that Black people have faced for centuries in this country. Youth like Trayvon are murdered by cops and vigilantes who almost never get punished for their crimes. Tens of thousands of Black and Latino youth are put into prisons every year. This is part of an overall program of brutality and suppression that amounts to a slow genocide that is breaking the bodies and crushing the spirits of countless millions of oppressed people. And as the case goes to the jury in Florida, 30,000 prisoners in California are engaged in a heroic strike against inhumane and savage conditions of solitary confinement. This is the reality of this system.
But there is also the reality that Trayvon Martin and youth like him DO NOT have to die or face lives of unending brutality and misery. A society that warehouses millions in prison, subjects tens of thousands of people in prison to torture and enforces vicious brutality on Black people can be ended. A society and world where the Trayvon Martins and Rachel Jeantels and countless millions like them can flourish and contribute to society is possible.
It is possible through revolution, communist revolution. A revolution that can end all the horrors this system inflicts on humanity—the oppression of Black people, the degradation faced by women, the wars for empire, the ravaging of the environment and more. This revolution is based on the theory of Bob Avakian and can be won with the leadership provided by the Party, the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), which he leads. If you want no more of this world and its brutality and misery, get into the work of Bob Avakian. Check out the film BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS, Bob Avakian Live. Read BAsics, a handbook for revolution drawn from Avakian's talks and writings. And get with the movement for revolution the RCP is building. There is a way out of the madness and oppression!
And if you hate injustice, you need to express your outrage at the murder of Trayvon and the racist justifications for this murder. NO MORE to placing a target on the backs of youth like Trayvon Martin.
For more on Bob Avakian and the movement for revolution, as well as developments around the Trayvon Martin case and more, go online to revcom.us.
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.