Bishop Charles E. Blake Prays Justice for Trayvon Martin

Following the tragedy of the killing of 17-year old, Trayvon Martin, Sunday, March 25th has been declared as Hoodie Sunday in hopes that his aggressor will be arrested and Trayvon’s murder will be brought to justice. On February 26, Trayvon Martin was going to visit his father in a gated community in Florida. He was returning from a local convenience store and was carrying a bag of skittles and a bottle of iced tea when George Zimmerman shot and killed him. American citizens everywhere have come together and voiced their concerns for the slaying of this young Black high school student, who was falsely identified as a criminal by Zimmerman due to racial profiling. No arrests have been made, as Zimmerman, pleads self-defense as his alibi. However, people all over America are standing up for Trayvon, who was completely unarmed at the time of his shooting.

In both West Angeles’ 8AM and 11AM services, Presiding Bishop Charles E. Blake has released a statement: “We stand in sympathy and concern and continue to send our prayers up for the family of Trayvon Martin. All loss of life is a tragedy and we will continue to pray for all killings that continue to go on in the nation and in the world. We will continue to pray for a full investigation and that a just outcome will prevail. May God continue to bless our nation to be a place of freedom and safety for all of its’ citizens. Remember, we are one.” We all sympathize with Martin’s family and friends, realizing that this senseless murder could have been our own son. Obama spoke out about this tragedy saying, “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

American citizens have loudly voiced their demands for justice as people post pictures of themselves in hoodies on social networks and speak out about this injustice. Throughout this past week, the major states around America; Chicago, New Orleans, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Florida, Kansas City, Los Angeles the cities have organized hoodie days. Many churches are joining in the demonstration; pastors, deacons, clergymen and congregants are wearing hoodies as a demonstration to put an end to racial profiling. Some of the services and demonstrations hand out skittles. Songs and raps have been composed in Trayvon’s memory. On March 21, New York City had a march called the “Million Hoodie March.” Martin’s parents joined this march and spoke out saying that they will not stop fighting for their son’s justice and they thanked the millions of people that came out to fight for their son. There was a march at Leimert and this Sunday on Crenshaw and Exposition there was a vigil for Trayvon Martin.

We must all stand together and know that we can make a difference. In the New York “Million Hoodie March” Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, said, “My heart is in pain, but to see the support of all of you really makes a difference.” We must continue to pray that this tragedy will find justice and Trayvon Martin will be the final incident of racial profiling. One injustice is one too many.