Seven years ago on this date during the NBA All-Star Game, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by self-appointed Neighborhood Watch person George Zimmerman in his father’s neighborhood of Sanford, Florida, outside of Orlando. Martin was only carrying a can of Arizona Ice Tea and a pack of Skittles.
After Martin’s death and Zimmerman’s acquittal, a epidemic of young Black males dying at the hands of law enforcement and citizens alike hit the streets of America, such as Jordan Davis, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Akai Gurle and a host of others in which almost no one was held responsible for their deaths. In some of the cases, the municipalities of the cities where the deaths occurred, sued the estates of the deceased.
The death of Trayvon marks a dramatic turning point in the history of America and not necessarily a good one.
