Above photo: Trayvon Martin rally March, 2012 in Baltimore.
For the second night in a row, hundreds gathered in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore and marched to City Hall to express opposition to the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the murder of young Trayvon Martin.
I attended the rally tonight. People of all ages and races were there. The overwhelming sentiment was that we must stand together in solidarity to stop police brutality and protect our children.
Speakers noted that Baltimore City closed youth recreation centers despite the fact that the City Council knew it would lead to increased crime. Unemployment for youth in Baltimore is also very high. At the same time, tax breaks for hundreds of millions of dollars are being given to large developers in the city.
Those in attendance tonight understood the current economics of inequality and its real life effect on families. Speakers at the rally emphasized the need for us to work together and look out for each other because nobody else was going to do it for us.
After a spirited rally in the hot sun, we marched to City Hall. Along the way we chanted, “Tell the truth, stop the lies, Trayvon Martin didn’t have to die” and “We must protect our children,” along with the standards of “No justice, no peace” and “What do we want? Justice When do we want it? Now.” I was particularly enamored with a young boy with a bull horn who supported the speakers by responding to their comments with “That’s right!” and “Let’s give a hand.” I saw a leader in the making and wondered what it must be like to grow up in a time of such injustice.
Rallies are taking place all over the country tonight to cry out for justice. Let’ hope that we really can work together to acknowledge the deep roots of racism in the US and really start to see that we must protect every mother’s child.
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