#dunntrial

[breenewsome]

#Ferguson #trayvonmartin #dunntrial

[keithboykin]

Juror #8 Breaks Her Silence. Watching this juror from the Dunn Trial reminds me of a quote attributed to Harriet Tubman. "I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves." It also reminds me of a quote from Carter G. Woodson's book The Miseducation of The Negro: "If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action." But this is the jury pool in Jacksonville, Florida.

[odinsblog]

I don’t trust Angela Corey. It is clear that Florida prosecutors are fairly unclear about how to defend black life against an onslaught of white murder.  Yes, I know that Jordan’s killer may spend the rest of his life in prison. But this is not about jail time. This case, like the case of Trayvon Martin, hinges on whether white fear legally outweighs and is therefore more legally defensible than black life.  The day before Jordan Davis would have turned 19 years old, a court failed to affirm the value of his life, his right to exist in space enjoying music with his friends, his right not to be harassed by someone while doing something as mundane as sitting in a parking lot at a gas station.  Professor Angela Ards said of this decision, “The chilling social logic of this illogical legal verdict is that Dunn has been found guilty of missing the other black boys in the car, of failing to kill them all.”  I think it we can safely and fairly assume that it is open season on black teenagers, if the murders of Trayvon, Jordan and Renisha McBride are any indication. 

How much more are Black people in this country supposed to take?  Open Season On Black Teenagers and The Onslaught of White Murder

[missinglinc]

What's your opinion on the whole Jordan Davis murder trial? For whatever reason many black people seem to have this so-called "broken record" complex: they cry and blog about it, blame the white man and when the media stops looping the scenarios, we go on about our lives like sheep.

I always say that I wish we were more united as a people & not just when something like this happens. In a week or so it’ll be back to dark skin vs lightskin, iphone vs android, etc. It’s crazy. We are tearing each other down from inside our community and making ourselves more vulnerable to the ones outside of our community to tear us down at the same time. A lose/lose situation right now. We just gotta love and educate each other every day, not just when one of us is taken away too soon.

We live in a world where knowledge is more available than it ever has been thanks to instantly shared social media like Twitter, Facebook Tumblr, etc.. but a majority of us don’t take it upon ourselves to seek out the knowledge. That’s why it seems like social media makes it easy for us to be part-time activist, or convenient activists. As for the “broken record” thing; I’m not going to hate on them just because they didn’t know about it from the start. I mean, at least they knew about it. At least they joined in on the discussions. At least they were aware of all the different points of view about the value of one black life. Hopefully, to some extent, that sticks with them even after the conclusion of the trial. But imagine if our presence on social networking and instant media sites, all the time, was how it was during Jordan & Trayvon’s murder trials. We can’t expect everyone to be as vocal as some of us are. So lets just respect each other’s way of dealing.

The blame game: I blame white washed media that calls an unarmed black teenager a thug but champions a gun toting white man who attacks innocent children as a hero defending himself. I blame a system of government that wasn’t built or formed with our protection at heart. I blame websites marketed specifically to black people for perpetuating the grossly untrue stereotype that we are all violent and unlearned, willing to fight on camera just for the hell of it. I blame a lot of people. But I blame myself too, for not doing as much as I can to help change all of this for our future generations. But man, I’ve been trying to do so much better.

[alltwibeverything]

#dunntrial #jordandavis #twibnation

[cairoasinegypt]

I need to get out of America. Murder is becoming legal.

[postracialtimes]

Black lives matter. Join the campaign.

[progressivepat]

Regarding the Dunn Trial

Yesterday the verdict of the Dunn Trial was announced, and my Twitter feed exploded with friends and activists decrying the verdict and expounding upon what the message it sent. The purpose of this piece is not to explain the verdict, I’ll leave that to a piece by Nicole Flatow over at ThinkProgress. 

The issue that many take with the verdict, and one that I agree with, is that time and time again the justice system reveals the inherent, institutional racism present within it. Last year with the Trayvon Martin case, and this time with Jordan Davis, we are reminded of the chilling fact that the lives of black Americans are worth less than their white counterparts. While I believe people of every creed, color, sexual orientation, and gender identity should be outraged about this blatant disregard for human life, even as a white man I have a personal stake in this issue: I have three biracial siblings. When I hear about cases like this, a mixture of sadness, worry, and anger all but engulfs me. When I look into their beautiful faces I am reminded time and again that they could be shot simply because of their skin color. 

Last night and on July 13th last year, the cases of Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin dealt a blow to anyone committed to justice, and especially to those who are related to people of color, whether they be brothers, sisters, children, husbands, wives, parents, aunts, or uncles. Those verdicts reminded us that our loved ones can be disposed of because of their skin color if they have the misfortune to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. If either of these two men were white, the case would be cast in an entirely different light. Something needs to change, and it needs to change soon. Only the white and privileged are allowed to “stand their ground” when they feel threatened. When Marissa Alexander fired a warning shot at her abusive husband, she was sentenced to 20 years in a federal prison. Fortunately, she has been released from prison on a bond and will be retried in March. Many activists are calling for a repeal of Stand Your Ground laws, and I could not agree with them more. 

I’m currently a student, and when discussing racism many of my peers take the well-trodden road of the typical White Person, that is, to say that racism is over because lawful segregation has been abolished, schools have been integrated, and interracial marriage is no longer met with burning crosses. This position is tempting because it is lazy. It is easy to look to the past and dismiss the struggles of the present. It is incredibly frustrating, as it passively perpetuates the daily dangers faced by people of color. That is not to say that these people are bad people who hate anyone unlike them. Rather, they are lazy and comfortable in the status quo, and instead of correcting the inequalities within it, they sit back and benefit from these inequalities. 

These tragedies will continue to happen time and time again if we do not stand up and do something. No longer can we sit idly by and watch as the people of color of our country are murdered and their killers are pardoned. We have a responsibility to the victims and their families to bounce back at the white supremacy continues to live on. I have a responsibility to my friends and in particular my siblings to fight back against a system that every day looks at them and deems them disposable.