A great article in Ebony Magazine delves into the much-talked about Trayvon’s Law; legislation proposed and currently being fought for by the NAACP, the Dream Defenders, and many others.

The law is an impressively comprehensive attempt to protect black and brown youth from the kind of racism and vigilantism that has destroyed and/or claimed the lives of so many of us.

It includes:

  • The Repeal of Stand Your Ground laws
  • An end to racial profiling
  • A mandate for law enforcement data collection on homicide cases involving people of color

From Ebony:

Additionally, the Dream Defenders have been advocating for an end to the “School to Prison Pipeline” in Florida that disproportionately suspends and criminalizes students of color for minor infractions. “Trayvon wouldn’t have been in Sanford if he wasn’t suspended for marijuana residue. If he hadn’t been in Sanford, he wouldn’t have died,” concludes Abuznaid.

…

Already, the Dream Defenders note considerable resistance from Governor Rick Scott of Florida to making any of these changes, especially to the Stand Your Ground laws.  Yet turning the loss of Trayvon Martin into an opportunity to make society safer for other youth of color—to allow them to not be defined by the vagaries of their youth and to actually grow into adults able to voice their own life experiences – simply an act of self-preservation for communities of color. the youth-especially low income youths and youths of color- have the political will to do this in Florida, they know that it can be done anywhere”.

Read more at Ebony

 

Thoughts on Trayvon’s Law, and the battle for its passage?

Are you hopeful it will be passed?

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