News & Articles

The senseless killing of young Trayvon Martin has reminded conscious Black men everywhere in this country of their tenuous existence. The “freedom” of George Zimmerman, Trayvon’s killer, reminds us of the imbalance of justice and the degree to which the “law” is slow to recognize our humanity.

By Gloria J. Browne-Marshall

Streets ran red with blood. It was the worse year of racial conflict in American history. The summer of 1919 was aptly named the Red Summer. That fateful summer race riots claimed the lives of hundreds of Blacks in cities and rural areas, alike.

The killing of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin has understandably sparked outrage across the nation. Considering how the Black youth was gunned down by a neighborhood watch captain as he innocently walked down a street has left people numb, bewildered and angry. It is a chilling example of the vulnerability of young Black men in this nation and the degree to which their lives are discounted in a society that has made being Black a criminal offense

By Gloria J. Browne-Marshall

Trayvon Martin, 17, was visiting his father, in Sanford, Florida, from Miami. Over fifty years ago, Emmett Till, 14, was visiting his grand-father in Money, Mississippi, from Chicago. Emmett Till was abducted in the night, by Whites, tortured and killed. It was 1955. Much has changed. Too much remains the same.

Trayvon Martin is the latest young Black man left begging for his life.