I Am Trayvon Martin

The country has been riveted the last few weeks about the tragic death of Trayvon Martin. As evidence and 911 calls have become public, the public outcry has swelled to epic proportion. How can an unarmed(unless you consider skittles and tea as weapons) young black male be considered suspicious and a threat to an armed vigilante? As I began to ponder this and to see the public outcry stream through news and social media, I am faced with the sobering reality that this type of profiling is not new and perhaps will never end. As long as our skin has been kissed by the morning sun, we will always be perceived as "suspicious". As much as people want to be believe that we live in a "post racial" society, racism still happens and is just alive today as it was years ago, just now wears different clothes. I myself, have felt the coldness of a jail cell, while being detained for "mistaken identity" while a seminary student in Atlanta, Ga. I had to endure being called a "boy" by a police officer while being pulled over because I did not match the car I was driving, so surely I was a drug dealer transporting some illegal substance, while being suited and booted on my way home from a revival. My heart grieves because this situation in Florida is more than one young male not reaching his goals or potential in life, but this is about all of us who in any instant, can succumb to the suspicious perception of others. Martin Luther King, Jr once said he dreamed that one day his children would be judged "by the content of there character instead of the color of their skin.." I guess we are still dreaming....I Am Trayvon Martin.