Urban Pro Weekly

The CSRA’s

NEWS • COMMENTARY ARTS ENTERTAINMENT Urban WProJULY 25 - 31, 2013

VOL.2 NO.18

BuildingCommunity

The CSRA’s FREE WEEKLYNewspaper

VOL.2 NO.44eekly

Augustans rally with passion, purpose Florence Rae Canady, a grandmother of eight, makes an impas-sioned plea for the men to take the lead in our communities, during a town hall forum to discuss Trayvon Martin and the Zimmerman verdict. Canady’s comments about her fears for her own grandchidren brought tears to the eyes of several audience

members. Held at Williams Memorial CME Church on Saturday, the event drew concerned citizens from all over the community. Forum panelists and audience members voiced their concerns and opinions on the trial verdict and how it relates to the Augusta community.

Photo by V

incent Hobbs

Augusta’s premiere REGGAE Celebration

The 16th Annual Bob Marley Tribute

Saturday, August 17, 2013

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PublisherBen Hasan

706-394-9411

Managing EditorFrederick Benjamin Sr.

706-836-2018

UrbanProWeekly LLC

Mailing Address:3529 Monte Carlo DriveAugusta, Georgia 30906

Urban WeeklyPro Sales & MarketingPhone: 706-394-9411

Photography and Social Media Courtesy of

Vincent Hobbs

email:Ben Hasan

[email protected]

Frederick Benjamin [email protected]

Vincent [email protected]

Augustans march, rally and plan for protracted fight for peace and justice

By Frederick Benjamin Sr.UrbanProWeekly Staff Writer

AUGUSTAAugustans joined hundreds of thou-

sands of Americans across the country in an expression of concern and outrage at the recent acquittal verdict of George Zimmerman accused of second-degree murder of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. The vigils, held in over a hundred American cities, were called for by the National Action Network headed by the Rev. Al Sharpton.

The peaceful protest attracted a broad cross section of the African-American com-munity to the Augusta Judicial Center on Walton Way and James Brown Blvd.

While the “old guard” civil rights orga-nizations represented by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) were on hand along with other veteran civil rights activists, the energy, enthusiasm and character of the rally was supplied by young African American women — those mothers, sisters, cousins and aunts who bear the brunt of senseless violence in the community.

While the Zimmerman verdict was the catalyst which led to the demonstration, the participants expressed concern about a range of issues including gun control, violent crime in the community and insti-tutional racism. Marchers have vowed to

channel their outrage into constructive efforts ultimately impacting voter registra-tion and nonviolent civil rights advocacy.

Dozens of people took the opportunity to register and vote.

The noon rally at the John H. Ruffin Court House was coordinated by local businesswoman Adrian “AJ” Wright and community activist JoRae Jenkins. A forum to discuss the effects of the Zimmerman verdict on the local Augusta community was organized by the Rev. Larry Fryer at Williams Memorial CME Church later in the day. There, a panel of attorneys, com-munity leaders and civil rights activists discussed the implications of the verdict.

Mischaracterized by conservative ele-ments in the country and county as plat-forms for incendiary rhetoric, the vigils and associated activities were models of decorum and respect for the law.

Among those Augustans spotted at the rallies were State Senator Hardie Davis, educator Wayne Frazier, cultural icons Tyrone and Judith Butler, attorney Harold Jones, the Rev. Charles Goodman, Jr. leader of Tabernacle Baptist Church, Dr. Charles Smith, president of the Augusta Area NAACP, and Dr. Alexander Smith of SCLC.

In Atlanta, the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Martin Luther King’s Ebenezer Baptist Church warned the audience against those who “move through our neighborhoods ... in pinstripe suits but with hoods in their hearts.”

Adrian Wright, one of the coordinators of Saturday’s march and rally addresses the crowd. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

JoRae Jenkens (r) among the participants at the court house.Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

Marchers holding signs move toward rallying point. Photo by Linda C. Williams Black youth rally for Trayvon Martin. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

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IN THE NEWS

Paine campus security gets major upgrade by forming Police Department

AUGUSTAPaine College officials have

announced the Campus Safety Department’s transition to the Paine College Police Department.

According to Paine President Dr. George C. Bradley, the new Police Department will act as a deterrence to individuals who would “impede instruction in our educational envi-

ronment.”Chief Joseph

Nelson is a 2010 graduate of the Georgia Chief of Police Academy and former Chief of Police of T h o m s o n , Georgia. Since his arrival at

Paine, he has increased the number of certified police officers at the College to seven, bringing the Department’s staff to a total of thirteen. In addition, Chief Nelson is certified in the State of Georgia in the following areas: Criminal Investigation, Criminal Procedures, Crime Scene Technician, Interviews and Interrogation.

The Paine College Police Department (PCPD) now has total arrest authority in the State of Georgia. The College has also been approved and grant-ed an Originating Agency Identifier (ORI) number, assigned by the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services to criminal justice agencies.

Joseph Nelson

AUGUSTAThere was a bit of good news out

of Washington, DC on Tuesday for Fort Gordon’s civilian employees. The US House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment to the Fiscal Year 2014 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Bill. The amend-ment, authored by Congressmen John Barrow (D-Ga.) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), effectively bans civilian fur-loughs within the DoD in fiscal year 2014, which begins October 1, 2013.

The amendment was also co-spon-sored by Congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) and Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-Kan.). An overwhelm-ing bi-partisan majority of the House approved the amendment by voice vote.

The final House version of the Appropriations Bill, including the amendment, passed on Wednesday night by a vote of 315-109. The bill also includes a 1.8 percent pay increase for military service members, beginning in 2014.

“With more than 3,200 folks facing

furloughs in the 12th District alone, it’s more important than ever for us to work together to find a solution,” said Congressman Barrow. “This common sense proposal will ensure that civil-ian employees at Fort Gordon don’t face furloughs again after October 1st. We’ve still got work to do, but I refuse to accept the status quo of gridlock. I’m going to keep on doing all I can to support these folks who are facing a 20 percent reduction in pay through no fault of their own.”

Fort Gordon civilian employees have been facing a dual threat – a reduction in work hours through furloughs, as well as the possibility that the DoD will enact Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s “Plan B”. The plan, which was detailed in a letter to the Senate on July 10th, will result in layoffs if sequestration contin-ues. “DOD will have to consider involun-tary reductions-in-force to reduce civil-ian personnel costs,” Hagel wrote.

Earlier this month, Congressman Barrow had introduced legislation, H.R. 2616, to eliminate the civilian DoD furloughs that currently affect around

650,000 civilian Defense Department employees. According to Barrow, the newly-passed appropriations amend-ment, along with his furlough elimina-tion bill, “will preserve the spending cuts mandated by the budget seques-tration legislation, but mandates that the reductions will be made in other places within the DoD budget”.

Congressman Barrow’s Facebook page generated dozens of “likes” and other responses to the bill and amend-ment. One commentator from Ft. Gordon wrote, “As a furloughed public servant at Fort Gordon I feel as though my paycheck is being stolen by those who have not been good stewards of taxpayer money. I applaud your efforts and hope you are successful. Perhaps tighter oversight of govern-ment assistance programs could help to avoid penalizing those who work hard to achieve the American Dream while so much fraud is being reported in these necessary but badly managed programs.”

One poster wrote, “Sir, I’m sure a major concern is that restricting fur-

loughs may result in cutbacks where people will lose their jobs completely. I would much rather lose some pay and keep my job. The thought is great; just beware of the long term impact.”

Another person shared their hard-ship – “God bless you sir! I hear you are trying to get this current one ended as well? It has been very hard on my family and so many others. I am grate-ful for your hard work in this mat-ter, my disabled veteran husband (cur-rently furloughed) is proud to be from Georgia right now!”

The sequestration budget cuts were implemented when the Obama admin-istration and Congress did not reach an agreement on deficit reduction and spending cuts earlier this year. The sequestration cuts, required by fed-eral law, amount to over $37 billion in reductions.

The fate of the House version of the Appropriations is uncertain; the Senate will not tackle the issue until early September.

— Vincent Hobbs for UPW

Fort Gordon civilian employees may get reliefAfrican-American girls rally for Trayvon Martin. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

Keeping a watchful eye over the event. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

The National Action Network is calling for Americans to come to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, August 24, 2013 to hold the gov-ernment accountable for the recent attack on voter rights, to lobby against Stand Your Ground and racial profiling, and to continue to raise awareness on unemployment, poverty, gun violence, immigration, gay rights and other critical issues affecting our nation.

This year marks the 50th anni-versary of the 1963 March on Washington that lead to the pas-sage of the very civil rights legis-lation that ended Jim Crow and began the modern era of civil rights.

According the the NAN website, “50 years later we need you as much as we did in 1963. Today, the first African American President in the history of our nation sits in the White House. That would not have been possible without the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court in the final days of its term this year has struck down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and thereby have place our right to vote in jeopardy. We must turn out by the hundreds of thousands in Washington DC on August 24th and we need your financial commitment to ensure our success...it is critical that we harness this heightened aware-ness of our collective strength to sustain a movement.”

No Justice, No Peace

March on Washington, August 25, seeks to direct energytoward change

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THE ART OF NONVIOLENCE Photos by Linda Chisolm Williams

NAACP Augusta President Dr. Charles J. Smith, Sr. discusses the Zimmerman verdict at a “Justice For Trayvon” rally in front of the John H. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse on Saturday. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Acclaimed poet Travis Wright speaks to a reporter at the conclu-sion of a “Justice For Trayvon” rally in front of the John H. Ruffin, Jr. Courthouse on Saturday. The event was held to honor the memory of slain teen Trayvon Martin and to raise awareness of inequality in the criminal justice system. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Images of the new civil rights

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9UrbanProW

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Sea Stachura listens to comments from panelists. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Cam Wallace offers some comments at a town hall forum to discuss Trayvon Martin and the Zimmerman verdict, which was held at Williams Memorial CME Church on Saturday. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Concerned citizens listen to comments from panelists at a town hall forum to discuss Trayvon Martin and the Zimmerman verdict. Photo by Vincent Hobbs

Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

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AUGUSTAFuture Successors and Keys Academy

are holding their First Annual Youth Career and Business Expo on Wednesday July 31, 2013 from 12:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. at Carrie J. Mays Community Center, 1014 11th Ave, Augusta, GA 30901. All youth between the ages of 11-18 are encouraged to attend. During the expo, employers will have the chance to engage with our future leaders, giving them the oppor-tunity to learn skills that are important to landing and keeping a job. Topics will include networking, learning to fill out applications and prepare resumes, successful interviewing tips, maintain-ing a positive attitude and gaining confidence.

The positive effects of adolescent employment include increased person-al responsibility and earning power; development of social skills; improved grades and participation in school-related activities, higher self- esteem and increased self-direction and inde-pendence.

Professional attire is encouraged but not required.

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Anthony King Keys Academy, [email protected] www.keys-academy.com 706.925.6729; and David Clanton, Carrie J. Mays Community Center 706.821.2827

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2nd Annual Gun-Buy Back DayAUGUSTAAugusta’s 2nd Annual Gun-Buy

Back/Peace Day sponsored by Future Successors will be held on Saturday, August 3, 2013 from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Last year this event was created to bring attention and aware-ness about the extreme gun play in Augusta. It hopes to create positive change within our com-munity.

Participants will be asked to turn in their useless, unloaded firearms in an empty shoe box at Antioch Baptist Church located at 1454 Florence Street, Augusta. In exchange, participants will receive a gift card value at $50-

$75. Additionally, Future Successors

will provide gun locks for rifles and handguns for individuals who choose to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms.

The organization notes that since 2000 Augustans have lost nearly 400 family members, friends, and neighbors due to violent crimes committed local-ly. The majority of the victims were under the age of 25.

Organizers of the event hope to prevent a repeat of the December 14, 2012 massacre where 20 peo-ple lost their lives at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.

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The Augusta United Negro College Fund (UNCF) Campaign is thrilled to announce its Inaugural Ann N. Johnson UNCF Jazz Festival, sched-uled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 8, 2013, at the Jessye Norman Amphitheater. This historic outdoor venue is located at 1 Ninth Street in downtown Augusta, Georgia. The location of this momentous event is named in tribute of the international opera star and Augusta native, Jessye Norman.

The UNCF Jazz Festival’s chair, Ann N. Johnson, has been a commu-nity pillar within the greater Augusta area for over 40 years. Paine College, the presenting host of the festival, has always been in the heart of

Mrs. Johnson, who has been a loyal supporter of the College a number of years.

“For 130 years, Paine has produced stellar leaders in various leadership positions and careers,” shared Mrs. Johnson. “Having served more than 35 years in higher education at Paine College, I have learned first-hand the talents and intellectual abilities of many deserving students, and the impact of receiving UNCF scholarships had on their lives”.

Paine College has been a member UNCF school for over 40 years. The UNCF is the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organi-zation. Since its founding in 1944, UNCF has raised more than $3.6 billion to help more than 400,000 students receive college degrees at UNCF-member institutions and with UNCF scholarships.

Tickets, now available for pur-chase, are $25 in advance and $35 on the day of the scholarship event. To purchase tickets for this event, contact Leadra Collins, Augusta UNCF Campaign Coordinator, at 706.821.8233 or [email protected].

During 30 years of performing in smoky clubs and other venues, Augusta entertainer Tony Howard has needed three surgeries on his vocal cords. His doctor attributed those throat issues to the constant secondhand smoke.

It’s why today Howard tries to choose smokefree venues when he can. And it’s also why he and oth-ers like him are supporting a cam-paign for smokefree workplaces in Augusta.

On Tuesday, July 30, Howard and a few of his friends, including Playback’s Tutu D’Vyne, The Motowners and Mike Swift, will host a special concert in support of BreathEasy Augusta at Applebee’s, 3117 Washington Rd.

During the free event, all those interested in smokefree workplac-es in Augusta are invited to show their support, sign up for upcoming BreathEasy Augusta events and more.

To find out more about BreathEasy Augusta or how you can help, visit www.BreathEasyAugusta.org or like www.facebook.com/BreathEasyAugusta.

WHAT: “Smokefree Voices for

Augusta” A free concert and support-er rally for the BreathEasy Augusta campaign, which is advocating for smokefree workplaces in Augusta.

WHEN: Tuesday, July 30, from 6 to 9 p.m.

WHERE: Applebee’s, 3117 Washington Rd.

WHY: According to a report by the U.S. Surgeon General, there is no safe level of secondhand smoke. Workers, in particular, who are employed by businesses where smok-ing is allowed, can be exposed to secondhand smoke for up to eight hours a day, causing numerous health problems. Workers shouldn’t have to sacrifice their health for a job.

In addition, patrons appreci-ate smokefree environments. Overwhelmingly, bars and restau-rants in other cities who have adopt-ed smokefree ordinances have found that business improves.

Paine to host scholarship Jazz Concert

Inaugural Ann N. Johnson UNCF Jazz Festival

Entertainer Tony Howard to hostevent supporting Smokefree Campaign

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Generation X, the Obama Era and the road ahead

mind to mind by Corey Washington

Kristie Robin Johnson

President Obama did some-thing truly remarkable on Friday afternoon. In a sur-prise appearance at a regu-larly scheduled White House briefing, our President shed his politically correct skin and revealed a face to the nation that many black citizens already knew existed. Unabashed and unapologetic, he exposed him-self simply as a black man. He showed solidarity with the mil-lions of us who share his ‘Black Experience’. He explained to millions of Americans who might not otherwise under-stand or even care, what it is like to walk around each day with black and brown skin in these United States. In this sincerely stunning moment in time, the leader of the free world gave credence to the grievances of black life and genuinely shared in our collec-tive pain.

As a member of the much maligned Generation X, it occurred to me that this could potentially become a defining moment in our American history. My parents witnessed, survived, and ben-efited from the struggles and advances of the Civil Rights Movement. They literally were forced to take back seats on the city bus and drink from water fountains marked “colored”. One of the stories that my mother repeatedly shared with me throughout my youth was about the day President Kennedy was assas-sinated. She was a student at Immaculate Conception and when the devastating news broke, heartbroken nuns rushed the children to mass and suspended classes for the remainder of the day. My mother then recalled, with great pain and anger, the insensitive remarks of white onlookers as she and her classmates entered the bus to head home. Taunts of ‘poor little niggers’ and ‘where’s your savior now?’ were hurled at them on what turned out to be one of the most tragic days of their childhood and cer-tainly one of the darkest days in the history of our nation.

The experiences of my par-ents profoundly shaped my upbringing and my world

UsWe’re the sons and daughtersof draft-dodgers and disco queens,Vietnam vets and dope fiends.Reaganomics never trickled down to us.Our economy never boomed; it was always a bust.Our mothers and fathers wereyoung, gifted, and Black.But we’re just young and Black,some born addicted to crack.We don’t have any Malcolm’s or Martin’sto lead us to the mountain top.We thrive on our own home growntherapy called hip-hop.From freedom rides to drive-by’s;From afros to braids;From Negroes to African-Americans;From free love to AIDS.We inherit a heritage of broken promisesand silent rage.Tricked into believing we’re free,while the penal system turns our men into slaves.The children of a false equality, we yet seek the truth.Coming into our own, slowly emerging from our youth.As a generation, we’ve been doubted, blamed,labeled, and even feared.Elders just shake their heads,While mothers mourn our losses with tears.But for the survival of our people,we rise up- because we must.The battle for justice is far from over,And the unlikely victors may well be us.

© Kristie Robin Johnson, from “Fear of Flying”,2013

still exist, and the myriad of issues that plague minorities and those living at or below the poverty line, we have to start by bridging the gap. We must find a balance between

holding one another account-able and loving one another unconditionally. I’ll end with a poem that I wrote in 2004 that sums up the task that lies ahead:

view. Sadly, neither would live to see the election of Barack Obama and the subsequent burgeoning of the next great movement for social justice. As I ponder just what such a movement might look like, I cannot escape the glaring disconnect between the lofty goals and messages of our sur-viving Civil Rights leaders and the everyday lives and cultural realities of my generation.

In the age of Obama, many of my Gen X cohorts find themselves uncomfortably in the middle. They are squeezed between the expectations of Baby Boomers that tell us higher education and moral uprightness pave the path to equality and the reality that young African-American males are disproportionate-ly represented in the crimi-nal justice system; far less likely to attend college than their white counterparts; and young black women are far more likely to be single par-ents than white women of the same age.

It seems that we are expect-ed to believe that if you are young, black and lucky enough to have achieved a college degree, middle class status, home ownership, and a mar-ried, two-parent household, you’ve acquired complete equality and successfully made it to the “promised land”.

Those of our generation who have not been so lucky are simply told to pull up their pants, stop listening to rap music, take care of your

kids, and stop begging for handouts. We often turn a blind eye to the fact that many of them grew up fatherless. We often forget that many have come of age in commu-nities where chronic unem-ployment and poverty are rampant. Let’s not even get started on the abysmal public school systems where many received their so-called edu-cation. And when many of our brightest, most talented young people express their creativity through hip-hop, many older African-Americans are too quick to dismiss their efforts as garbage.

Instead of recognizing the stark inequities that continue to persist in the post-Civ-il Rights Era and embracing young sisters and brothers in need, many older leaders have chosen to look on with criticism and judgment and turn their backs, rendering many of us hopeless. As an individual with two college degrees, a decent job, a mort-gage, a tattooed exterior, and a current playlist that includes the latest releases from TI, J. Cole, and Wale, I reside in that great chasm between living up to the standards of those who paved the way and expressing solidarity with my peers. The two do not have to be mutually exclusive.

If we are to begin to move forward and tackle institution-alized and systemic racism, low wages, the prison-industri-al system, a poor public school system, the gender gaps that

Women attending Trayvon Rally in Augusta on July 20, 2013. Photo by Linda Chisolm Williams

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LETTERSIgnorance, racism led to the death of Trayvon Martin

Death makes for ‘Strange Bedfellows’

All Richmond County Parents, Business Leaders & Stakeholders

Please Join Us for an Informational and

Involvement Meeting on the Title I Flexible Learning Program (FLP) &

Comprehensive LEA Improvement Plan (CLIP)

Tuesday, July 29, 2013

At 12 noon

In the RCSS Boardroom

864 Broad Street

Augusta, GA 30901

For additional information, call the Title I Office, 706-826-1134

All Richmond County Parents, Business Leaders & Stakeholders

Please Join Us for an Informational and

Involvement Meeting on the Title I Flexible Learning Program (FLP) &

Comprehensive LEA Improvement Plan (CLIP)

Tuesday, July 29, 2013

At 12 noon

In the RCSS Boardroom

864 Broad Street

Augusta, GA 30901

For additional information, call the Title I Office, 706-826-1134

mind to mind by Corey Washington

By now the whole world knows all the particulars of the George Zimmerman verdict. It seems that your views on the verdict have to do with either your experiences in life or your current status in society. For Example, Clarence Thomas may have had some experiences of being racially profiled in the past, but his high on the hog status as an ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justice negate all of his past experiences that he could use to identify with people who look like Trayvon Martin. Also Charles Barkley grew up dirt poor in Leeds Alabama, but his current sta-tus as a retired pro athlete/rich golf playing (If that’s what you call it!!)T.V. personality have blurred his mental comprehension when it comes to his outlook on the case. At this point, do I even have to talk about Bill Cosby?

Let’s look at some other talking points. Why don’t people stop say-ing “Why is everyone focused on Trayvon Martin when you have all of this Black on Black crime going on?” Can you walk and chew bubble

gum at the same time??? I think so! People also need to stop implying that Black people don’t care about the senseless murders in Chicago. Or they may throw out an obscure case that seems to be related in the sense that a White person was killed by a Black person. But when you look the case up, you find out that the Black person(s) were arrested and convicted!! Let’s talk plainly: The rea-son the Trayvon Martin case picked up so much national attention was because the police automatically took George Zimmerman’s account and questioned him and let him go. It took a public outcry for an arrest to be made.

What added fuel to the fire was the avalanche of support for George Zimmerman from rightwing gun enthusiasts and others who seemed to be a little too happy about the death of a young black boy. (Anyone still in High School is still a boy. I don’t care how tall you are!!)

So the biggest question that I have had about this whole case is: How

did George Zimmerman get so much White support? Was it because his father is an influential White person in Sanford, Florida? Was it because of what George Zimmerman rep-resented? (A gun owner defending his neighborhood from young black thugs/punks/kids?) Was it because Al Sharpton got involved? Was it because President Obama said that “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon”? Or was it all of the above?

To be fair, there are many people of many ethnicities and races seeking justice for Trayvon. Sadly, the people who are supporters of George Zimmerman are the same ole Fox news watching, NRA supporting, build a fence…..wait a minute, did I say build a fence?

George Zimmerman looks like someone that most of his supporters would profile and would want to see his papers. How many of George Zimmerman’s supporters can honestly say that they would not be alarmed to see him stalking their kids on a dark rainy night? How

many George Zimmerman supporters would pick him up on a highway in Texas, Arizona, or California? Yes the truth of the matter seems to be that George Zimmerman is trying to fit into a white world. Sometimes people like George Zimmerman overcom-pensate by treating other people of color as less than human. Sad to say, but George Zimmerman may have the ability to profile young kids who look like him. (Black people aren’t the only ones who self-hate.)

In the final analysis, I guess George Zimmerman finally got what he want-ed. He is now officially the world’s first authentic White Hispanic. Does he officially get to fully bathe in White privilege? Or is this just a temporary condition? Only time will tell, but the question that George Zimmerman has to ask himself when he lays his head on his pillow is: Was it really worth it?????

Corey Washington is the author of Plain Talk Vol.1 and 2, andNobody Cages Me (Jimi Hendrix)

I would like to thank Austin Rhodes for clearly demonstrating it was ignorance and racism which led to Trayvon Martin’s unfortu-nate, premature death. In a recent Metro Spirit article titled, “Strange Dichotomy Emerges in Controversy,” Rhodes wrote, “ Trayvon could have gotten the message that skulking around looking like a thug in that neighborhood was not a good thing for a smart guy to do. Clearly, he did not know that. The Retreat at Twin Lakes should have invested in some serious signage, and perhaps even a mandatory community cov-enant that all residents would have to sign, acknowledging that their streets were being patrolled. And, that failure to cooperate with said patrols would result in an immedi-ate call to the police, and that the summoned law enforcement per-sonnel could be expected to handle the situation further. Had Trayvon Martin been made aware of such a policy, I doubt he would have made the same choices he did that fateful night.”

It’s obvious Austin Rhodes and George Zimmerman are like mind-ed in their disdain for black teens. First, Rhodes mentioned Trayvon was skulking around. Skulking means to move or go about in a stealthy manner; sneak. However, it was clearly reported Trayvon was

leisurely walking through the neigh-borhood trying to get to his destina-tion. But, I guess in the ignorant, racist mind he was stealthy and sneaking.

Second, Rhodes mentioned Trayvon was looking like a thug. Thug means cruel or vicious ruf-fian, robber, or murderer. Ruffian means tough, lawless person; brutal bully. Again, it was clearly reported Trayvon was neither. He was not a ruffian, robber, or murderer. He was just a black teen walking through a neighborhood in a free country. However, sadly, in the ignorant, racist mind, all black teens walk-ing through a neighborhood are thugs with evil intent. Therefore, it was perfectly okay for George Zimmerman to stalk, confront, and shoot to death an unarmed black teen.

That is why Austin Rhodes and those like minded saw the not guilty verdict as justice for George Zimmerman and justification for killing an unarmed black teen. In their black-teen-phobic mind, they believe the world is safer because Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman is alive.

Kevin Palmer123 Dresden DriveMartinez, GA 30907706-231-1831

George Zimmerman looks like someone that most of his supporters would profile and would want to see his papers. How many of George Zimmerman’s supporters can honestly say that

they would not be alarmed to see him stalking their kids on a dark rainy night?

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