by Liz Goodwin, Yahoo! News, July 14th, 2013
SANFORD, Florida, USA. – Under the hot Florida sun the morning after George Zimmerman was found not guilty, Kathy McGill stood next to a brick monument adorned with the names of 10 local young people who had been shot or stabbed to death. The name at the top of the monument, located in the center of Sanford’s historic black neighborhood of Goldsboro, was Trayvon Martin. Next to Martin’s name was the date of his death: February 26, 2012.
McGill never knew Martin, a Miami boy who was visiting his father when he was shot by Zimmerman, but she did know two of the other people listed on the monument – Travares McGill and Corey Donaldson. Since the community put the plaque of names up nearly a year ago, at least two other Sanford kids have been killed.
News of last night’s verdict was greeted with disappointment and some anger in this neighborhood, as residents said they believed police do not adequately respond to violence in their part of town and that justice is not meted out equally. A jury of six women affirmed Zimmerman’s argument that he feared for his life when he shot the unarmed, 17-year-old Martin in a nearby gated neighborhood.
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I am choosing to share this story with you, even though I haven’t really followed this case as closely as most of you have.
I wish to send love to Trayvon’s family, as well as to everybody else involved and concerned.
May we consider that there exists a human truth which needs to be respected and justified.
May we consider that there exists a social truth which invites us all to change and to live in harmony and with respect towards each other.
And may we consider that there exists a spiritual truth which reminds us that we are all One and that what we do upon others, we will do upon ourselves.
There is always a deeper truth to what the eye can see.
I am blessing this young man with all my love and respect and hope that his short life served its purpose to remind us that we are brothers and sisters, no matter what color, shape or size we have.
As always, with much Love
Rev. Gabrielle Orr
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