Friday, March 29, 2024

Trayvon Martin is NOT a Costume.

October 29, 2013 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Although Halloween is days away, a trio of men and women recently decided to display their holiday foolishness early.

According to numerous reports, a photo of a group in distasteful Halloween “attire” was uploaded to Caitlin Cimeno’s Facebook account (which has since been deleted). In the photo are two men with a woman standing in between them. The guy on the left is in blackface, wearing a “blood-stained” gray hoodie, while the guy on the right—who has on a “Neighborhood Watch” t-shirt—is smiling as he points a gun (made out of his right hand) to the other man’s head.

It should be painfully obvious to see, but the blackfaced, blood-stained character is supposed to be Trayvon Martin while the happy neighborhood watch shooter is supposed to be George Zimmerman. And, sadly, stories say this group is from Florida.

I know Halloween is this week and people are always trying to have the most creative outfits, but let me say this:

Trayvon Martin is NOT a costume.trayvon-costume

And more specifically I mean his murder (and yes, despite what a Florida jury says, he was murdered) is not a costume.

Martin was just 17—a child—and was unfairly gunned down in 2012. It took weeks for his killer to even be arrested and to have charges brought against him. Martin’s name was dragged through the mud and his character was tarnished with people viciously calling him “thug Martin” and saying he deserved to die. A photo of his dead body was even broadcasted for the world to see.

Then a jury slaps his parents and family in the face by not finding Zimmerman guilty of any charges. His family gets slapped in the face yet again after a juror comes out and says she knows they set a killer free and how heartbroken she is for his mother. And now this?

What happened to Trayvon Martin was disgusting and immoral and was a shot at the lives of black men throughout America. His death was not a joke and is not something to “mock” or “play dress up” with for Halloween.

Martin’s life was taken away from him; that’s not something to be “glamorized” by blackface, fake blood and a neighborhood watch shirt. Nor is it and everything it represented an occurrence to be proudly smiled upon, as the three are shamelessly doing in the photo.

Trayvon (and his death) is not a costume. He was someone’s child, brother and friend. And though these people may take off their clown clothes and brush the night off as harmless fun, his family and all those affected by his death will forever remember that, unlike the three in their “creative failures,” Martin will never again experience the joys of this or any other holiday.

People, think twice before choosing your “costumes” this week. Everything is not a joke.

Staff Writer; Shala Marks

Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/shala.marks

Service is her passion, writing is her platform, women and the Black Community are her avenues. Shala Marks is a writer, editor and soon-to-be author. Through her work, Marks aspires to demonstrate “The Craft of Writing, and the Art of Efficacy.” She has a B.A. in journalism from Arizona State University. Connect with her over at http://www.ShalaMarks.com.

 


Comments

17 Responses to “Trayvon Martin is NOT a Costume.”
  1. Richard Coleman says:

    Robert, where is the proof?

  2. Anne says:

    So, Matt, where are the burglar tools that this kid would have had in his possession if he had had burglary on his mind? There were no tools on him, and the person who had been burglarizing the community had already been caught before that night. Besides, it was 7 p.m., and Trayvon had on light pants, not the dark clothing that most burglars wear. Any “attack” on the watchman was a result of his own hot-headed foolishness. He never identified himself as neighborhood watch, and for all this kid knew, he could have been a robber himself. Besides, his injuries were just scrapes that required bandaids and he declined medical treatment. If he had sustained the severe injuries he claimed, he would have been taken to the hospital because he would have been in no condition to even refuse treatment. If the fool hadn’t had a gun in the first place, he never would have approached this kid. He claimed he was scared, yet he got out of his truck in order to accost Trayvon. Nothing he has claimed makes any sense and he has been aided in getting out of all his scrapes with the law by his enabling father. He reminds me of the Van Der Sloot guy in Aruba who killed Natalie Holloway and got away with it with the help of his father, a high-ranking official. Later, he killed a Peruvian woman. By this time, his father was deceased so he got tried, convicted, and sentenced to 28 years. Like George Zimmerman, he was never held accountable for his misdeeds while his father was alive. Besides, since then Zimmerman has been involved in a domestic dispute with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Although she ended up not pressing charges after he broke her phone recording the dispute in which he struck her father, it shows a pattern of behavior for him. He always portrays himself as the victim in circumstances he brings upon himself.

  3. Anne says:

    I love the way Zimmerman defenders try to make the perpetrator out to be the victim. His own stupidity and arrogance are what led him to disregard common sense measures that would have avoided this kid’s needless death. Trying to attribute criminality to Trayvon, while turning a dismissively blind eye to all Zimmerman’s brushes with the law even before he murdered this kid shows a mindset that’s in denial. As for the costumes, it was a sickening case of insensitivity, stupidity, immaturity, and attention-seeking from adults who should have known better. It’s bad enough that this family had to lose a loved one to a senseless murder by someone who rushed to judgment. It’s even worse that they did not receive justice in the legal system. With these facts in mind, it’s really stooping low to rub more salt in the family’s wounds with this act of block-headed stupidity.

  4. ROBERT says:

    @ Richard COLEMAN
    INSTEAD of taking the word of a racist murderer I choose to believe a non biased doctor who say’s he can prove that none of the story ZIMMERMAN told was true.

  5. Richard Coleman says:

    Killing me, some people really think it was about race or better yet murder. Please stop thinking in those terms. Try looking at the other side (and for those that keep calling people white trolls, I am black)I don’t think every young black man is a threat, but let’s be real Trayvon jumped and assaulted another person and that person has the right to defend themselves by whatever means…. Don’t bring a knife to a gunfight!!!!

  6. Bob Builder says:

    It’s funny. Love how some people can’t deal with the truth.

  7. ROBERT says:

    DR SHIPING BAO..

    THE medical examiner and doctor that performed the autopsy on TRAYVON has filed a 100 million dollar lawsuit against his former employer the medical examiner’s office of this particular county.

    HE claim’s that the medical examiner’s office the state attorney and the Sanford police department colluded in staging a trial to free ZIIMERMAN because they believed like many of the white trolls on this website that TRAYVON got what he deserved.

    HE did get to testify in trial that TRAYVON died due to homicide.

    HE also testified that TRAYVON was alive for at least ten minute’s after the shooting and probably could have been saved had the EMS who was present made the attempt.

    NOW ask yourself why would a ASIAN AMERICAN man risk and eventually loose his career over one of thousand’s of cases in his life time.

    THE answer has to be he saw a great injustice and as a man of conscious he couldn’t stay silent.

    THIS man deserves our support and attention; we should not forget what happened to TRAYVON because he was a victim of a vicious race murder.

    CAN you imagine the constellation of evil that must exist in the state of FLORIDA to be capable of staging a trial of the murder of a 17 year old young man!

  8. Richard Coleman says:

    CHERYLL says:
    October 29, 2013 at 11:21 pm
    @ RICH AND MATT YOU ARE SOME STUPID AS MOTHERFUCKER YOU WOULDN’T FEEL THAT WAY IF IT WAS YOUR CHILD! BITCH AS MOTHERFUCKES!

    Really? is that all you can say? If it was your child? If it was my child I would feel failure for not teaching him better it would seem, since he decided to jump a grown man with some nonsense MMA really. Stop reacting with unnecessary emotion. The fact simple he attacked and lost and it is a shame but that what it really comes down too. Name calling is the same mindset that got him killed in the first place.

  9. spritom says:

    I agree with Ms Marks on both parts of the facial makeup and dressing up as a well-documented violent-drugee-attempted-murderer-thug is in bad taste.

    I disagree with most all of Ms Marks unsupported other claims in which evidence clearly shows the opposite. Such logical fallacies are not indicative of responsible journalism nor logical/sensical writing.

  10. Focus says:

    This article is a non issue. Over and done with.

    98,000 died and 210,000 were critically injured due to medical malpractice in 2012 in the U.S.

    You’re worried about a picture that would not have received as second look if you hadn’t bothered to post your fake outrage? Smoke and mirrors and you people are putting effort into a feel good issue. You’re inability to move on and seek revenge on something that has zero to do with you is childish.

    Move onto something that actually positively help every citizen in the U.S.

  11. Mike Williams says:

    Trayvon Martin was shot while he was trying to kill George Zimmerman. No matter how much you twist the truth and lie about it. He was on top of Zimmerman, punching him and smashing his face into the ground. Zimmerman would be dead if if did not defend himself. And the world is better off without the punk/criminal that was martin. Travyon Martin lived like a punk and he died like one. But you are right. Martin was a punk. No need to have a costume about him. We should have hero costumes like Zimmerman instead.

  12. Allan says:

    “And more specifically I mean his murder (and yes, despite what a Florida jury says, he was murdered) is not a costume.”

    Yes, he was murdered………justifiably.

  13. Allan says:

    “Martin will never again experience the joys of this or any other holiday.”

    Because he tried to see to it that someone else would not experience these things as well.

    “Trayvon Martin is NOT a costume.”

    The kid was a punk want to be thug, according to his own writings and pictures as well as his record of conduct at school. People like you and the media have made him (his name), into a costume, someone or something that really isn’t who or what he was, innocent. He was pounding someones head into the concrete when he was shot, he got his justice.

  14. CHERYLL says:

    @ RICH AND MATT YOU ARE SOME STUPID AS MOTHERFUCKER YOU WOULDN’T FEEL THAT WAY IF IT WAS YOUR CHILD! BITCH AS MOTHERFUCKES!

  15. ROBERT says:

    @SHALA NO where in this article is it mentioned that the medical examiner in the ZIMMERMAN/MARTIN trial has filed a lawsuit claiming that the whole trial was staged.

    HE also stated that he had proof that TRAYVON could not have been on top of ZIMMERMAN pounding him.

    TRUTH and facts or far more powerful tools than trying to appeal to white peoples emotions because very few have any!

  16. Rich Keagy says:

    Travon started it. George ended it to save his life.

  17. Matt says:

    Trayvon WAS the burglar in that neighborhood. He attacked a watchman for no reason, and was shot when he tried to murder a white man. That is the story of the thug knows as Trayvon.

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