"Resurgence Of The Civil Rights Movement"



US History – Civil Rights (Level 1)Mr. MizeFive years on: Recalling Trayvon Martin and the birth of Black Lives MatterOrlando Sentinel, 3/2/173228975832485SANFORD, Fla. — Back in 2012, Francis Oliver took to the streets of Sanford with more than 8,000 other people. She and the others were there to demand the arrest of the man who killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old.When Martin’s killer went on trial the next year, Oliver cooked meals for his parents. She let them take naps at her home.The national Black Lives Matter movement, which campaigns against police violence directed at African-Americans, did not exist "before Trayvon Martin,” Oliver said. “Black Lives Matter was created after Trayvon Martin.”Specifically, the phrase was coined on July 13, 2013. On that day, a Seminole County jury acquitted George Zimmerman, the Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot Martin after phoning 911 and describing him as suspicious. Zimmerman was arrested six weeks after the shooting and was charged with second-degree murder.Martin's shooting was five years ago Sunday."Resurgence Of The Civil Rights Movement"The shooting unleashed a firestorm of public protest, not just in Sanford, but also in many other places across the United States.Ese Ighedosa, 29, now a lawyer, was a law student at the time of the shooting. She was at Sanford City Hall with Martin’s parents the night city officials played a 911 call for them that captured cries for help — and then a shot. “This was really the?resurgence?of the civil rights movement,” Ighedosa said of the protests that quickly erupted.President Barack Obama had been in office for three years when Martin was shot. At the time, many Americans felt that the election of the nation's first African-American president meant racism was no longer a problem in the United States. They believed we had entered a "post-racial era," said the Reverend Al Sharpton. A prominent and nationally known civil rights activist, Sharpton came to Sanford twice in March 2012 to lead rallies demanding Zimmerman’s arrest.The Outrage Was BuildingSharpton got involved, he said, because the shooting made it clear just how at risk African-Americans are, and how little they are protected by the legal system. “This guy wasn’t even a policeman, and he could just kill this kid and not even be arrested," Sharpton said. "That’s what outraged me.”Sharpton said he does not think young black men are better off now than they were when Martin was shot, but there is one big change: The Black Lives Matter movement has led to greater accountability. He said people now demand answers when police kill young black men, and they are willing to take to the streets in protest."Trayvon Martin energized a renewal of civil rights activism in the 21st century," Sharpton said.A few days after the shooting, Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, hired civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump and went on national television with their story: An unarmed black high school kid who was doing nothing unlawful was fatally shot. Sanford police would not arrest the man who did it.Local members of the black community, including Oliver, immediately called for Zimmerman’s arrest.Voices Are PowerfulZimmerman went into hiding but cooperated with police. He told them that he shot Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman claimed the Miami Gardens teenager punched him, knocked him to the ground, climbed on top of him and then began hammering his head against a sidewalk.Photos showed him with a swollen nose and blood coming from the back of his head.Sanford’s police chief at the time, Bill Lee Jr., said there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest Zimmerman.Meanwhile, the rallies in Sanford got bigger and bigger. Protesters demanded that the police chief be fired — and eventually, he was.On March 19, 2012, Ighedosa and about 75 other protesters marched outside the Seminole County Criminal courthouse. They insisted upon — and got — a meeting with the county’s lead prosecutor. Prosecutors have the power to bring charges against a person.The shooting and protests surrounding it were?“life-changing,"?Ighedosa said. "That showed me how powerful my voice is and also what my responsibility is to speak out.”Rethinking The State's Stand Your Ground LawOn March 22, 2012, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor — lawyer Angela Corey. Three weeks later, Corey charged Zimmerman with second-degree murder.Zimmerman hired lawyer Mark O’Mara to defend him, and was eventually cleared of all charges.Curtis Hierro, 29, took part in a 31-day sit-in at the state Capitol in Tallahassee shortly after Zimmerman’s acquittal.“I see the murder of Trayvon Martin as an awful moment that I think stirred many folks to action,” he said.?He and other protesters were calling for the reversal of Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. Under the law, someone who kills another person cannot be charged with a crime if they had a reasonable fear of being killed or badly injured. Critics say the law makes it too easy to get away with murder.So far, efforts to reverse the law have failed. Indeed, a new measure that would strengthen it is now being considered.Nonetheless, Sharpton is hopeful that Stand Your Ground and other similar laws across the country will eventually be reversed.“I think we’re going to see it,” he said. “We’re not going to give up.” ................
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