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Harlem Students Take to Streets to Show Support for Trayvon Martin

Thursday, April 05, 2012 - 10:51 PM

We are all Trayvon Martin.

That was the message from a group of Harlem high school students from Democracy Prep High School. They organized an event to demand justice for the slain Florida teen and his family. 

A group of around 100 students in grades 9 through 11 wore hooded sweatshirts over their school uniforms, linked arms and silently marched through central Harlem.  The line of students wound their way down 135th St. to the Harlem YMCA carrying signs that said, "I am Trayvon Martin," as passers by stopped to voice their support and words of approval.

Sophomore Anthony Wright was on of the organizers of the march. “I feel like if nobody stands up for justice, his family will never get justice. It'll just be a case of another black kid dying, the way people think how it's supposed to be,” he said.

The students at the all Black and Latino high school organized the event to raise money and awareness for the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation, and to protest Florida's "stand your ground" law.

"I feel like there is a connection, that could have been one of us," freshman Victoria Rodriguez said. "A lot of teenagers wear hoodies, buy Arizonas and candy, and since we understand that we could have been in his shoes, it's the proper way to put a stop to something that shouldn't just be swept under the rug."

The hoodie has become a symbol for Martin. View the slideshow to see what the hoodie represents to the students who marched.

Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC
9th grader Mekhia Whitfield: We put on our hoods to say that he is Trayvon, I am Trayvon, she is Trayvon, we all are Trayvon Martin.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC
9th grader Victoria Rodriguez: We’re wearing hoodies to show that it’s just something that you wear, it doesn’t determine what type of person you are.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza
Shanell Acosta: The hoodie to me symbolizes a revolution, a change in society. Us working together to make sure this never happens again.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC

10th grader Anthony Wright: The hoodie symbolizes Trayvon Martin, cause no Black or Latino kid who is 17 and has a future ahead of him deserves to die. If nobody stands up for him, it’ll just be another case of a black kid dying.

Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC
9th grader Bakary Diallo: Wearing the hoodie represents justice for the Martin family. I believe that everybody deserves justice.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC
10th grader Rachelle Egipeiaco: To me, the hoodie symbolizes respect and justice. Young people marching and wearing hoodies shows adults how important this issue is.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza for WNYC
10th grader Anita Altam: My hoodie symbolizes Trayvon and the pain he went through. We’re here to support him and be his voice.
Jessie Wright-Mendoza

Mona Barry: Wearing a hoodie symbolizes that wearing a hoodie doesn’t make you a suspect. They’re not doing anything bad or harmful, but a lot of people suspect kids in hoodies. That’s the stereotype.

 

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Comments [2]

fmc from Massachusetts

The use of a hoodie as a symbolic of Trayvon Martin is baffling. Symbolic of what Trayvon Martin was wearing I suppose, but why does that matter? He was probably wearing sneakers too.

Point is, the hoodie had nothing to do with anything other than its use to describe someone's appearance, and then only when asked by the 911 operator. Was Zimmerman supposed to say something else?

Apr. 07 2012 07:30 PM
333maxwell

For anyone that has an interest in audio….
I am an audio guy..

I took the 911 call with the most audio informatiion regarding screams, compressed it, ran it at half speed and pitch corected it 100 percent.. even though it runs slower (just a tenth over half speed) anyone with an ear for music can tell not a note has been changed.. Digital affords you this luxury. In the analog days we had to physically slow the tape/medium down and you lose pitch and clarity.

Of note, there is a noise after the shot at around 1:12 that matches the wavforms of the screams. That is one point of interest I found. Whomever is screaming makes that noise right after the shot. It comes from the same speaker (voice box) as the screams. Or at least that is my non scientific. but versed in audio best guess. What it means? I haven't a clue.

THIS AUDIO IS NOT ENHANCED per sey.. not like enhancing a photo.. the only enhancing has been to adust volume levels so you don’t hurt your ear listening to everything at relative volume levels.

There are a few swirling artifacts in this copy because I had to compres the wav file to a 128 kbps mp3 to fit on my page so you had a player to hear it on.. These artifacts are slight and will not distract.

The 911 call as you have never heard it before, draw your own conclusions. Listen for the scream after the shot.

http://soundclick.com/share.cfm?id=11548279

This exercise is just a way to access the call and hear things easier that you would not of just listening to the raw recording, nothings been altered, no specific frequencies isolated or enhanced. But things are easier to hear.

This specific 911 call.. I believe.. will be integral to any pending investigation as it is the one pice of evidence that has not been compromised. A forensic audio guy will have a good canvas to work with compared to a lot of the sounds they generally have to work with..

Apr. 05 2012 11:20 PM

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