Trayvon Martin - The Verdict

Sadly I am not surprised by the verdict for George Zimmerman.  The whole thing makes me feel tired in a deep part of my soul.

I said a prayer of hope, comfort and strength for his family.  I know that's all I can really do. 

I can't light a candle for Trayon.  That's too close, for my empathic, compassionate, mother-bear-rage, heart.

My son is 22 years old.  When he was a teen, I myself had to have a conversation with local police, about his right to sit on his own front steps, at 2 o'clock in the morning - without being deemed suspicious.

Trayvon Martin's case opens up such deep-seated feelings and issues that I feel the need to tread carefully and thoughtfully with my words. 

Trayvon is dead.  Funny how we were refer to him in the first person, as if we knew him personally.  His spirit has reached into our soul, and we won't forget him.  Neither a "guilty or acquitted" verdict was going to return to him to his family.  This trial was about his family.  Providing some sense of closure, that their son's death had not been in vain.  I can only the imagine the heartbreak and injustice they must feel.

I have never been a person to judge people by their race, creed, or color of their skin.  I hate labels.  My life is blessed with a true diversity of people and that''s how I like it.  I don't want to feel other's judgements and irrational, lopsided beliefs are now going to change, how I feel about being a Black person in American society.  That's where the true work comes in for me.  How to hold to my faith, in the face of things that seem so achingly familiar in my people's past.