6 Months. 6 months ago. 6 months ago today. A bullet struck a young man and took his last breath. A breath from our nation’s soul. A nation yearning to be better. Almost there. Small steps yearning to take one giant leap. Neil Armstrong. Just a few more steps before he got to the house he was staying in. Stopped because he looked suspicious. He looks black with a dark hoodie like a gray hoodie. He wore jeans or sweat pants and white tennis shoes. He’s here now. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal. Declaration of Independence. 6 months ago today, a young man just a few weeks older than 16, took his last breath. Before he got to the mountaintop. Martin Luther King, Jr. One bullet. 6 months ago. Today. Killed Trayvon Martin. Born February 5, 1995. Taken from us February 26, 2012.
Times moves fast. More people get killed. 36 in 36 hours in Chicago this weekend alone. Headlines get printed. Commentators lose focus. Elections upon us. Politicians get paid. The people get played. But, this one seems different. This one we can’t let go. Time moves slow. 6 months, just six months. We’ve marched. We’ve rallied. We’ve cried. We’ve screamed. We wore our hoodies everyday. This one is about what kind of nation we will be. Our soul. Our ground zero. Sanford, Florida. One gunshot shot us all. Woke up this morning and got yourself…one mic. Nas. A rallying cry for Trayvon. Put the guns down.
If we are to reflect on the six month anniversary of Trayvon’s death, let us attempt a deep meditation on the violent infatuation with guns our nation has been engulfed by. Let us remember all of those we have lost since February. Aurora, Oak Creek. Ronald Wallace. Amber Stanley. Lloyd Morgan. Angel Cortez. Heaven Sutton. And hundreds of other innocent victims who took their last breathes too soon. But while we say the names of those who have passed on, let us also remember that we do not have to accept this hurricane of violence. Regardless of those who cling to their guns, we will overcome their fears, stereotypes and strangulation of our politicians. We will embrace every young person who has lost hope and who is hungry. We will feed them a new America that we are destined to be.
A compassionate nation. A nation fueled by inspiration and not by desperation. A nation whose soul beats on when the gunshots stop. A nation that will never forget Trayvon Martin. Hoodies Up.
Michael Skolnik is the Editor-In-Chief of GlobalGrind.com and the political director to Russell Simmons. Prior to this, Michael was an award-winning filmmaker. Follow him on twitter @MichaelSkolnik
p.s. while I was writing this, I received this inspiration. a tribute to Trayvon. directed by Tim Milgram and choreography by Aliya Perry.
