True Thieves In The Night - Chris "Preach" Smith

There is a higher law than the law of government. That’s the law of
conscience. - Kwame Ture/Stokely Carmichael 

Not guilty.

That was the verdict returned by six jurors in the trial of George 
Zimmerman this past Saturday night after a little more than 24
hours of deliberation. And like many others, I have been juggling
anger and numbness like bombs with slow moving fuses. I got 
the news while walking Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn looking to get
a cab with two friends to a spot. I saw how a summer night got
filled with nervous, electric tension as people checked the alerts
on their smartphones. As we went to this bar in the cab, my own
phone kept buzzing with text messages. But once we got to this
next spot, and even to the next one on Atlantic Avenue, it was
as if nothing happened. But that feeling of dread still sat in the
pit of my stomach like a cold, obtuse stone. And it reverberated
with every mention of the verdict.

In truth, this verdict had to be expected. Consider that Angela
Corey and the state of Florida along with the Sanford police only
began this process after relentless protesting and scrutiny aided
by late-to-the-party media outlets. The same Angela Corey who
oversaw the conviction and sentencing of Marissa Alexander who
sought protection under the same ‘Stand Your Ground’ law that
Zimmerman’s defense team for firing a handgun AT A WALL to
ward off her ex-husband. She got 20 years for that. Yet she and
the state as prosecutors botched this case from jump. Consider
that a ‘jury of your peers’ was made up mostly of white women
from a conservative county. A county that breaks down to 80%
white and 11% African-American at last tally. A prosecution team
led by an attorney known for overcharging in cases, something
that was brought up last year. The defense team did their job
as contemptible as it was. And as they acted, Don West being
exhibit A. When you look at these instances and the fact that
racial profiling was completely ignored, this was the verdict to be
expected. Doesn’t make it any more easy to swallow. A child died.
Not a wanna-be thug. Not a hoodie-wearing menace hopped up
on mary jane. A teen trying to get home with snacks in the rain.
And the person that killed him gets away with no legal consequences.
It sets a dangerous tone, one that has a familiar ring.

The anger and hurt has compelled many to write articles, start
petitions, and march from coast to coast. Mostly peaceful protests,
despite the fears of some commentators and the secret hopes
of others. (By the way, Alex Jones? Get bent for trying to purport
the same racial stereotypes in the guise of ‘awakening’.) But 
that doesn’t stop a network like CNN from playing one clip of an
unruly demonstrator on loop to stand as an example for all of the
protests. Part of this anger I, and others feel is that a teenager is
dead. Trayvon Martin has been besmirched since that bullet took
his life. The way they have treated him in death is how they view
us in life. It’s like how it used to be 50 years ago; be you eight 
years old or eighty, a white person could still call a Black man ‘boy’.
It is the outright exercise of white privliege that has made people
view Trayvon as yet another ‘thug’. A code word for ‘darkie’ or
‘nigger’. Words some don’t want to utter in a supposed ‘post-racial’
America. It is that same privilege that led to the Sanford P.D. only
drug testing Trayvon during the autopsy while letting Zimmerman
get away clean, violating state law. The same privilege that led to
Don West berating Rachel Jeantel on the witness stand as if she
hadn’t fetched his mint julep with the right amount of leaves as
he sat on the veranda. The same privilege that has led Mark O’Mara
to call for the disbarring of Benjamin Crump and Daryl Parks. To
them, and the Zimmerman family, Trayvon ‘deserved it’. And so
they heaped it on. Look at his brother’s first interview afterwards,
claiming that the 17 year old would’ve set up a drug factory. That’s
selling it to the Fox News Nation with mustard on top.



What stood out to me is that the diverse mass of people are angry
that this ‘justice’ system has again been set up to fail people of color
at the expense of a murdered child. A child who is being exploited,
even after death like so many others out here. And yet, there’s a
good many people who have accepted that the ‘justice’ system was
never for our fairness. When you have a defense witness get busted
advertising that he trained Zimmerman in mixed martial arts during
the trial, it is exploitation. When you have a juror in this case announce
a book deal less than 48 hours after the verdict was handed down, it
is yet another example that the life of a person of color is cheap in the
United States. Trayvon was a threat, one that George felt he couldn’t
let ‘get away’. Ponder that. He couldn’t let another one get away. And 
so, he stole his life. That’s right. STOLE it. By getting out of that car,
he began a process that made him a thief in the night. And he was
aided in his theft by a law that has been highly controversial. The 
theivery even extended to his mother claiming Trayvon’s screams on
the 9-11 call were her son’s. Even the media at large is at fault, evidenced
by HLN’s coverage and the fact that they showed photos of Martin’s
body at the crime scene.


As it stands now, the Department of Justice has begun looking into
the matter, spurred on by peitions by the NAACP and other groups.
More protests are being arranged. Stevie Wonder has publicly stated
that he won’t play any more dates in Florida until Stand Your Ground
is abolished. Juror B37 has had her book deal yanked thanks to a
swarm of outrage via Twitter and Facebook. The people are letting
their voices be heard. Yes, it is because of Trayvon, but it is a larger fight.
This may be that point, SHOULD be that point where things change
through action. Trayvon’s case has led to more light on the Alexander
case, the Jordan Davis case and many other travesties including a
Black police officer shot 20+ times by fellow cops about to go to trial
for assault. On the cops who shot him. It’s not about being alarmist.
It’s about folks beginning to take their stand. It has happened with
generations before us, and it can happen again. We’re at a point 
where clocks are being turned back via legislation to match mindstates.
Complacency cannot aid immorality’s abuse of decency.


As I watched the coverage of the march in Manhattan Sunday night,
I thought about how only a few decades ago, terror and loathing
came after Black folks at night. How it came after Emmitt, Medgar
and others. It wore hoods, sneers and other accesories of bigotry.
Perhaps, all of the outcry and protest sure to rise is right on time.
Right on time to shatter perceptions, add more flames to show this
country the fire next time is real and not just a simple heat wave.
Right on time to take back the night from the thieves wearing their
privilege and fears like ski masks. I hope and pray that folks keep on
fighting. Keep on protesting, passing out petitions, talking. Address
the system that feasts on men, women & children because they
are ‘threats’ for actually going against divisive perceptions. Shine
a light on the true thieves in the night.