When it was the time to go buy a hoodie and some Skittles I kept my money in my pocket. I have not changed my profile picture to the various Trayvon Martin inspired pictures over the past year. And today I will not "black out" my profile. Do I do this because I am not in solidarity with the millions of people who are sickened by the tragedy that ended the life of Trayvon Martin. Not at all. I have resisted what I consider symbolic Trayvonism that has swept over the social media world which substitutes real actions with endorphin producing symbolic gestures of support. In other words I don't want to be more comfortable with the death of 17 year old black boy for simply being black.
Some have compared symbolic Trayvonism to wearing different colored ribbons that signify the different forms of cancer. I beg to differ. Cancer is an impersonal disease that chooses its victims without regard to class, race, sexuality or gender. We act in solidarity because we have come to know it can and will strike anyone's family. Secondly, people usually participate in activities or donate money, time, and resources to the curing of cancer. While some only wear a ribbon many don't stop with the ribbon. The end goal is 'The Cure'. Are the hoodies a symbol of ending anti-black racial violence or a commodification of it?
Which brings me back to hoodies and profile pictures. Neither of these gestures has lead to the reduction of the chance that another young black male will not be the victim of white vigilantism (whether in the form of police brutality or Stand Your Ground laws). Rather it has commodified Trayvon's image as a symbol of black suffering in the same way Christians wear crosses around their necks. Black folk have internalized a cult of black martyrdom that kicks in whenever these tragedies occur. We have become somewhat adjusted to the reality that black life is not guaranteed in the same way as white life. We recall all the past African Americans who have met violent ends at the hands of white racial violence and create a longer list of names. Now along with the names Emmett, Medgar, Martin, and Malcolm we have added Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and countless others. The sad reality is we are in denial about what confronts us.
Just take the mission of the Trayvon Martin Foundation:
The Trayvon Martin Foundation was established to create awareness of how violent crime impacts the families of the victims, and to provide support and advocacy for those families, in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. The scope of the Foundation’s mission is to advocate that crime victims and their families not be ignored in the discussions about violent crime, to increase public awareness of all forms of racial, ethnic and gender profiling, educate youth on conflict resolution techniques, and to reduce the incidences where confrontations between strangers turn deadly.
This was not simply a violent crime. Trayvon was not the victim of a mugging or gang violence. He was the victim of racial violence. George Zimmerman could not know if he smoked weed, posted inappropriate things on his social media accounts, known his g.p.a. in high school. All he needed to know was he was a black male and therefore suspect. What technique does one use to stop a white vigilante? How do you reduce incidences of confrontation when your skin color is the source of confrontation on the part of white racists? While the mission of the foundation is admirable it misses the deeper issue which has existed persistently in the minds of racist whites: the presence of black folk and their right to exist as total human beings.
Some have compared symbolic Trayvonism to wearing different colored ribbons that signify the different forms of cancer. I beg to differ. Cancer is an impersonal disease that chooses its victims without regard to class, race, sexuality or gender. We act in solidarity because we have come to know it can and will strike anyone's family. Secondly, people usually participate in activities or donate money, time, and resources to the curing of cancer. While some only wear a ribbon many don't stop with the ribbon. The end goal is 'The Cure'. Are the hoodies a symbol of ending anti-black racial violence or a commodification of it?
Which brings me back to hoodies and profile pictures. Neither of these gestures has lead to the reduction of the chance that another young black male will not be the victim of white vigilantism (whether in the form of police brutality or Stand Your Ground laws). Rather it has commodified Trayvon's image as a symbol of black suffering in the same way Christians wear crosses around their necks. Black folk have internalized a cult of black martyrdom that kicks in whenever these tragedies occur. We have become somewhat adjusted to the reality that black life is not guaranteed in the same way as white life. We recall all the past African Americans who have met violent ends at the hands of white racial violence and create a longer list of names. Now along with the names Emmett, Medgar, Martin, and Malcolm we have added Oscar Grant, Trayvon Martin and countless others. The sad reality is we are in denial about what confronts us.
Just take the mission of the Trayvon Martin Foundation:
The Trayvon Martin Foundation was established to create awareness of how violent crime impacts the families of the victims, and to provide support and advocacy for those families, in response to the murder of Trayvon Martin. The scope of the Foundation’s mission is to advocate that crime victims and their families not be ignored in the discussions about violent crime, to increase public awareness of all forms of racial, ethnic and gender profiling, educate youth on conflict resolution techniques, and to reduce the incidences where confrontations between strangers turn deadly.
This was not simply a violent crime. Trayvon was not the victim of a mugging or gang violence. He was the victim of racial violence. George Zimmerman could not know if he smoked weed, posted inappropriate things on his social media accounts, known his g.p.a. in high school. All he needed to know was he was a black male and therefore suspect. What technique does one use to stop a white vigilante? How do you reduce incidences of confrontation when your skin color is the source of confrontation on the part of white racists? While the mission of the foundation is admirable it misses the deeper issue which has existed persistently in the minds of racist whites: the presence of black folk and their right to exist as total human beings.
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