(USA Today) SANFORD, Fla. — A Florida jury deciding the fate of a neighborhood watch volunteer charged with killing Trayvon Martin will hear more stirring testimony Thursday from a 19-year-old woman who heard the last moments of the boy’s life.
Rachel Jeantel, 19, says she was on the phone with Trayvon right before he was killed and that George Zimmerman stared at and then came after the young man who tried several times to run away. She was one of three state witnesses Wednesday who painted Zimmerman as the aggressor in the deadly confrontation that later sparked racial controversy and protests around the country.
“A man was watching him,” Jeantel said. “He (Trayvon) told me he was going to try to lose him.”
Watch live here:
@AntonioTheWiser Someone should burn DVDs of Lolo Jones crying on international television, then sell it as a Trey Songz video.
Vanessa Veasley (@VanessaVeasley)
@lolojones came into my peripheral by playing victim… & now she’s a bully? She needs to have several sponsorless seats
Zeralyn Ford @Zeralyn
@lolojones that’s why you ain’t never won nothing but light skin struggle.
blkheavyweight preaches!
http://youtu.be/Zs2geLy6d0A&rel=0
CNN I see ya’ll bringing your experts on to malign Rachel’s testimony and bolster West’s limp, lame ass interrogation. LOL Rachel Jeantel is showing the defense how to STAND YOUR GROUND.
They can interrogate her all they like, but they can’t call her an effing coon and kill her in cold blood in the courtroom. The “creepy cracka” comment sent their heads exploding! don’t think for one moment that Zimmerman was sitting there thinking how he’d like to bust a cap in Rachel’s ass, because she dared tell the court what Trayvon said, and how she didn’t think “creepy cracka’ was racist. BWA HA HA HA LOVED IT!
Pay attention people. Voting rights struck down, a creepy sob stalks, follows,chases & kills a kid but the discussion is did Trayvon Martin start the fight?
The ‘creepy crackas’ are getting mighty desperate, as their world of whiteness gets smaller & smaller. We’re not going back, and we’re not taking any SHIT.
Here you have a creepy sob following a kid & frightening him to the point of running & folks act as if Trayvon Martin had no right to stand his ground. What kind of madness is this?
Trayvon had EVERY RIGHT as a citizen of the USA to STAND HIS GROUND. and he tried to with ICED TEAS & SKITTLES.
George Zimmerman thought he could get away with murdering Trayvon and paint him as a criminal. That’s been the white man’s M.O. for ions.
Geroge Zimmerman will go down in history known as a CHILD KILLER. Even if the jury brings back a not guilty verdict, that bastard carry the anvil of murder, just like OJ. Simpson.
Did you see West throw the pen when Rachel said FDLE? A seasoned defense attorney lost control b/c he couldn’t break a 19 year old girl. He tried to tire her out for 4 hours with yelling, intimidation, insults and mockery but he LOST.
@SG2. I saw West also throw down a transcript. He was so intense on trying to intimidate and take authority over Rachel that he moved to the stand, obstructing the jury’s vision and invading the witness’ space.
I thought he threw a pen or something b/c it made a noise. It was when he was standing at the podium. Rachel uttered F.D.L.E. and West was so enraged it seemed he threw something.
@SG2. West threw a pen, and at another time, he threw a transcript down. Don West could use anger management.
West is on the edge. He looked at Rachel with such a hatred and disgust. And all this child did was tell what Trayvon said was happening at that time.
A Letter To Rachel Jeantel, The Prosecution’s Key Witness In The George Zimmerman Trial
By Khadijah Costley White
June 27, 2013
Rachel Jeantel, the young woman who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin the night he was killed, was grilled by George Zimmerman’s defense and the media on Wednesday. And Khadijah Costley White wants to apologize to her on behalf of the world.
Dear Rachel,
I write this as I watch you testifying, tightening your lips, grinding your teeth in an attempt to be stoic, to not break down while you recount the grisly, too-soon murder of your friend. It was probably the most terrifying moment of your life. I can’t imagine listening, helpless, while my friend was stalked and murdered, panicked and afraid. You told him to run. You thought it would keep him safe. What could’ve been going through your mind that day? Did you worry when the phone was cut off? When Trayvon didn’t call you back or return any of your missed calls?
What could you have possibly felt when you found out that Travyon had been killed? Were you able to sleep that night? Have you been able to sleep since? “He sounded tired,” you said today on the stand. You do, too, Rachel. So tired.
I want to write you an apology for this whole world, even if it’s not my place to apologize. I’m so sorry that you’re sitting on the stand right now, being interrogated like a criminal instead of another victim. I’m so sorry that people are judging you, fixated more on your beautiful brown skin, your carefully applied make-up, your body, your being, than your trauma and your pain. I’m sorry that you were born into a country where a man can pursue and kill a black boy, your friend, and go home the same night with the blessings of law enforcement officers. I’m sorry that you’ve been retraumatized, stigmatized, defamed, and attacked just because you were unlucky enough to love a black boy, to share time with him, to be the last one he ever called.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
This letter, I know, doesn’t make up for any of it. Not for the unimaginable grief and pain you’ve suffered in the last year. Not for the guilt or shame you’ve probably felt, which no doubt has affected your health and will continue to affect your life, your dreams, your faith. I can’t even fix the extreme likelihood that you and your children might soon find it impossible to vote in your home state. Or that you were never taught to read cursive, or that the school you grew up attending was probably more like a prison than a place of learning. I can’t promise that you, or another loved one (or mine) won’t, yet again, die too soon, too young, too black.
But I’m writing this all the same.
There are a lot of hateful things being said about you—comparisons to “Precious” (as if Gabourey Sidibe isn’t a real person or, irony of ironies, that Precious wasn’t also a victim of trauma), people making fun of your frankness, your tenacity, your refusal to codeswitch out of your mother-sister-brother tongue. You exemplify, in your girth, skin tone, language, and manner, a refusal to concede. You are a thousand Nat Turners, a quiet spring of rebellion, and some folks don’t know how to handle that.
In truth, you’re part of a long legacy of black women so often portrayed as the archetypal Bitch, piles of Sassafrasses, Mammies, and Jezebels easily dismissed, caricatured, and underestimated. For black women, in particular, being the bitch represents our historical exclusion from the cult of true womanhood, a theme traditionally bounded and defined by its contrast to white femininity. For some folks, being black and being a woman makes us less of both.
Don’t forget that in just the last few years, Fox News called the First Lady of the United States “Obama’s Baby Mama,” that a popular radio host referred to a group of college athletes as “nappy-headed hoes,” and that even a gold-medal Olympian wasn’t able to escape physical scrutiny and bodily criticism on the world stage. This rhetoric is bigger than you, older than you, deeper than you—it is not you.
(But you know that, already, don’t you?)
I just want you to know: I am so proud of you. In you I see a fierce resistance that reminds me of ancestors past. Each time you open your mouth, look down, clench your cheeks in a fresh wave of pain, I see Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Fannie Lou Hamer joining their spirits and bonding their strength to yours. I see a survivor, a woman who has miraculously kept her mind and nurtured her sanity enough that she can sit, for hours, and recount such horror. You have a brilliance that flares out, only to be quickly veiled by a glance down or a quiet stare. Past your soul-wrenching pain and your child-like bravado, I see hope and possibility, a small green tendril creeping out of a concrete playground. I see YOU.
I hold you in me—and there are many, many others, with our arms, minds, and hearts holding you right alongside me. I hope you feel it. I hope you know it.
And I’m so sorry that my apology isn’t enough.
http://www.rolereboot.org/culture-and-politics/details/2013-06-a-letter-to-rachel-jeantel-the-prosecutions-key-witn#.Ucyj2_DIabF.twitter
I WISH I COULD LIKE THIS LETTER A GAZILLION TIMES!
AMEN
THIS simple bytch
@lolojones
Rachel Jeantel looked so irritated during the cross-examination that I burned it on DVD and I’m going to sell it as Madea goes to court.
………………………….
but Black twitter is on it
aPhDStudent @aPhDStudent19m
Rachel Jeantel speaks 3 languages .@lolojones speaks English and sonic boom, the sound you make when you trip over a hurdle.
…………………………………………………
@Luvvie
Dragging @LoloJones ain’t difficult. It’s not like there are Olympic medals around her neck weighing her down so… (-_____-)
Trudy @thetrudz
@lolojones Instead of insulting Rachel who is defending the LIFE of a child murdered w/o cause, focus on how you still have no medals.
Trudy @thetrudz
What’s funny is @lolojones mocks Rachel J for her dark skin and size yet two dark Black women smoked her ass on the track last year, so…
What Don West did is not cross-examination. Rather, it’s interrogation.
Precisely!
SG2,
can we post this everyday on this trial thread?
we need to remind people who Trayvon was.
You bet I will!
Did y’all see George call Selma a liar when she stated he put his right hand on his head and left hand on his hip?
Thank You, Rachel Jeantel
http://www.thenation.com/blog/175009/thank-you-rachel-jeantel#axzz2XSSIN48P
Rachel Jeantel was the last person to speak to Trayvon Martin before George Zimmerman killed him on the night of February 26, 2012. On the third day of Zimmerman’s murder trial, after opening statements that featured the words “fucking punks” and knock-knock joke, and testimony from a number of witnesses, Rachel took the stand.
Visibly shaken, Rachel recounted the details of her phone conversation with Trayvon the night he was killed. She says he told her that a “creepy-ass cracker” was watching him. He attempted to lose him, but the man kept following, at which point Rachel suggested that Trayvon run. The phone was disconnected shortly after, and when the two were reconnected, Trayvon told Rachel, “The nigga is behind me.” Rachel then heard a bump, the sounds of “wet grass,” and what she thought to be Trayvon saying, “Get off.”
The court took a recess after the state was finished questioning Rachel, as she was too broken up to continue at that moment. When they returned, Don West, a lawyer on Zimmerman’s defense team, resumed the questioning. Rachel’s demeanor noticeably shifted. She became agitated, answering West’s questions with quick “yes”es and exasperated “no”s. The more tedious the questions, the more frustrated she became. She was looking at a man trying to get someone off for killing her friend. West was doing what a defense lawyer does, of course, by trying to catch Rachel in a lie, poke holes in her story and cast doubt on her credibility. And the way she responded reflected the fact she knew exactly what was going on and she was determined not to let him rattle her. She may have frustrated him just as much as he did her.
Rachel’s testimony is an emotional reminder of just what happened. A teenage boy was killed. His family and friends were left to mourn. For some of them, the pain is still fresh. The man responsible walked free for more than a month. There’s a possibility he could be found not guilty.
Several times, West brought up the fact Rachel lied about her reasons for not attending Trayvon’s wake. “You. Got. To. Un. Der. Stand,” she told West, breaking up each syllable to emphasize her frustration. “I’m the last person—you don’t know how I felt. You think I really want to go see the body after I just talked to him?”
Rachel Jeantel isn’t a Hollywood actress. She’s not a trained professional. She doesn’t testify in court regularly. She’s a young black woman missing her friend. She showed up to court to give all the information she had as to what happened the night he died.
I’m starting to think that Zimmerman is going to testify. How else could his alternate, fictitious narrative be presented to the jury?
That’s probably why Don West kept her on the stand for 4 hours + to impeach her testimony even if he had to try trickery to do it. West knows the defense cannot put him on the stand b/c Bernie will shred him to pieces.
Get your ass in the box, George!
What I’m thinking is that Zimmerman is so extremely arrogant that he probably believes he can handle the prosecutors and convince the jury. I guess we’ll see what happens, but I’m sure the prosecutors would relish the opportunity to question him under oath.
If George could squeeze his big bodily behind into the box I doubt he could get out and JN would have to call the fire department to bring the Jaws of Life.
Was Shellie there today?
Yeah, it looks like a lot of that money raised for Zimmerman and his wife ended up at Krispy Kreme.
Jenna Lauer has deleted her Twitter account.
of course the bytch did
Court is in recess until tomorrow 9am
Daryl Parks @parksesq 3m
Martin family press conf. Today after court, media village
I guess during the press conference, Darryl Parks said this is a case of criminal profiling.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/trayvon-martin-trial-prosecution-star-witness-grilled-article-1.1384074
Mark O’Mara is questioning Selma Mora
Next witness up
Selma Mora
She’s an architect!
Mora was born in Colombia and has lived in the U.S. for 12 years.
Selma saw 2 people. One was on the ground. One on top.
She has been the first person to say that the person on top had a bi-color jacket on.
Selma says she couldn’t tell what race the people outside were. She asked “what’s going on?” No one responded.
Selma Mora says the person on top got up, walked away and began pacing.
Selma says her friend was screaming that the sound was a gun shot.
Get that lying bish…
IT’S ABOUT TIME THE STATE GET TO ZIMMERMAN’S HISTORY OF VIOLENCE!
Mark O’Mara opened the mofo door. Now get him, Bernie! Get him!
I hope Bernie jumps on that bs about Zimmerman not being a hothead.
Did Judge Nelson just ask the jurors to leave the courtroom?
Jenna Lauer says.. It sounded like they were desperate … really needed help
O’Mara’s trying to convince folks that Trayvon didn’t belong in the neighborhood. Last time I checked, it’s not a crime punishable by death to walk the neighborhood with Skittles and iced tea.
She leans towards the defense.
Yep.
BINGO!
Mark O’Mara is questioning Jenna Lauer
The player keeps starting and stopping. What is O’mara asking Jenna?
Yamiche Alcindor : One juror, an older to middle aged woman, looks upset. She has her hand over her face and keeps looking around with a sad expression.
Jenna Lauer says she never heard “you’re going to die tonight, motherfucker”.
Of course Jenna Laurer didn’t hear this. It’s what George Zimmerman was thinking with every fiber of his being before he pulled the trigger and MURDERED Trayvon.
They know good and d—- well that was a young man screaming for help.
They know it and sure as the nose on your face.
Tracy Martin just looked down as 911 with screams and gunshot was played.
He and Sybrina will relive the death screams of Trayvon forever. Just gut-wrenching….
Tony Pipitone: Sybrina Fulton has already left before the 911 call is played, Tracey Fulton remains, eyes downcast, no reaction to gunshot.
911 call being played.
Wow. He was yelling for help longer than I had heard previously.
Zimmerman is a heartless beast. A kid begging for his life and he still pulled the trigger…because he wanted to.
Ask Jenna Lauer how grass sounds, Don West?
Jenna says the sound kept getting closer to her door away from the concrete.
Jenna Lauer says she called 911 within 30 seconds of hearing voices and scuffling.
I cannot imagine not looking out if this is occurring right outside my patio.
Exactly! Who ignores someone’s cries for help and not look out?
…while a PREDATOR guns down and murders an innocent black teenaged boy, named Trayvon Martin.
Next witness up
Jenna Lauer.
Jenna Lauer lived in the community where Trayvon Martin was killed.
Lauer said the sliding glass door of her home was open and she “heard voices.”
She heard loud talking outside.
Tony Pipitone : Lauer: Heard voices from left (north, toward top of the T in path), one person said something, then another. Unintelligible. Same volumes.
Well well there’s that grass sound again..
Sneakers on pavement, running, scuffling on grass.
Back from a late lunch. What’s happening? STOP! hey, what’s that sound, everybody look wet grass on the ground.” LOL
The yelps turned to help.
SG2; West & his ilk don’t want to admit that breathing humans know and have a sense of what wet grass sounds like.
I grew up on a farm. You bet we know what grass sounds like.
I grew up on a farm too. Slashed and played in the rain many a day.
Let Jenna tell what the sounds are, O’Mara. He and West love leading the witnesses, don’t they?
Mark O’Mara is cross examining Raymond MacDonald.
Yamiche Alcindor: Mantei directing MacDonald to talk about calls from the night of the shooting. Showing that several calls went to voicemail after 7:16.
So very proud of you Rachel Jeantel!
Trayvon spoke through you! God bless you!
Local 10 Zimmerman @WPLGZimmerman
Trending now: #CreepyAssCracka
Raymond MacDonald describes how phone records are created.
Next witness up
Raymond MacDonald. A senior manager at T-Mobile.
I hope Rachel said this to West as she left the courtroom.
Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye!
I knew it before but I am convinced more than ever that there’s an extra special place in hell for both Don West and Mark O’Mara.
Not only are they defending a cold blooded murderer for shits and giggles but they attempted to destroy a girl who is probably still grieving the death of her dear friend and still feels guilty that she didn’t do more at the time ( not that there was anything else she could have done nor was it her responsibility).
The Zimbots’ hypocrisy knows no bounds. They want to make DeeDee guilty for not contacting the authorities or Tracy yet their hero decided he would discuss what type of bullet he used to shoot Trayvon through the heart instead of giving Trayvon CPR or otherwise attempt to save his life.
Don West wants to keep her on the stand because he’s NOT winning.
Judge: “I’ll sustain the objection because I believe the exact phrase was ‘creepy ass cracker.'”
Judge Nelson ruled the recording of Jeantel’s statement can’t come in unless she denies saying parts of her statement.
Natalie Jackson @NatJackEsq
IMPORTANCE OF #RACHEL’S TESTIMONY: She said #GZ STARTED confrontation. I think her testimony forces #GZ 2 testify, in order to try 2 rebut.
“You Want That Too”? I don’t see the relevance.
Court is back in session…
West is planning on tiring out Rachel Jeantel in order to confuse her even if it takes the entire day. Judge Nelson needs to stop this because he’s asking the same damn questions for 4 hours straight. Why is this witness treated differently?
I think, Rachel (scratch that), she KNOWS his game. “Yes sir and No sir” is all he’d get from me.
Court is in recess until 1:45pm
This round of harrassment went straight to Rachel Jeantel. West is really proving to be an idiot for underestimating Rachel’s intelligence. He obviously has no clue about codes, and unseen forces black folks used and continue to use to SURVIVE in this RACIST ASS COUNTRY.
@blunted215
I’ll get offended by “cracker” right after it’s used to describe disenfranchised & enslaved people for four straight centuries.
BAM!
HELLO!
Something fishy is going on with the transcripts? As my late mother would say…watch…fight.. and pray.
@AdamSerwer
Legal analyst Seema Iyer on @msnbc: Zimmerman defense attorney West is doing “so much damage to his case” with his cross of Jeantal.
@wyethwire
SOME PEOPLE: If Rachel Jeantel were a well spoken professional woman, they wouldn’t be treating her so badly ME: You mean, like Anita Hill?
SPOT ON! Folks like West have no regard whatsoever for black men, what makes anyone think he’s respect black women.
@rikyrah. HA!!! Right-on!!
What kind of bs is going on with the transcripts?
It seems like they are trying to trick her into testifying words which don’t even exist!
Axiom Amnesia : Zimmerman Trayvon Why is it every time Rachel destroys West the court reporter claims she can’t understand?…
Constant Okey doke!!!
uh huh
Natalie Jackson : THIS===>@Big6domino Don West is mistaking Rachel’s inability to articulate as a lack of intelligence. Crucial Mistake
Rachel Jeantel stated if Trayvon was going to confront Zimmerman he would have told her. He was being followed and trying to run home.
*******************
Nothing West can throw out there will change that.
They are trying to say he has fought before otherwise how would she have known that. That is a stupid premise. It is common sense that you would not talk on the phone while you are fighting.
Rachel Jeantel: “That’s real retarded sir”
So she is ruining their story. They want to say Trayvon was hiding and blitz attacked
Zimmerman.
West’s questioning and badgering is bordering on pure HARRASSMENT!
Now West is asking the most ignorant ass questions imaginable. When is this enough?
@SandraEGraham
GZ is having a problem staying awake. Yet, media is continuing to negatively comment on witness. GZ is disrespectful to the court.
@desertcronenm
@adept2u I taught teens for years & believe Rachel is fairly typical. They put on a guise of nonchalance to their anxiety or fear.
3 damn hours questioning this child with the same questions over & over.
Truly, there is really nothing left to ask. Can the judge or the prosecutor end this questioning since he keeps asking the same things over and over?
This is totally ridiculous.
West has got NOTHING. And the fact remains, Trayvon Martin is dead and George Zimmerman murdered him in cold blood. Badgering a 19 year old black girl is not going to change that fact.
MOVE ON, WEST. Enough of this wet grass bullshit!
What does get off usually mean?
I think that’s when the thug Zimmerman laid his hands on Trayvon and scared the hell out of him because Trayvon had no clue what it was all about.
Wet grass sounds “squishy,” bitch.
He asks stupid questions.
Stop fking up the transcripts. Get it right.
They know she doesn’t speak The King’s English so they are trying to spin that into
a completely different statement. SMDH!
Yes!
Rachel is very soft-spoken. They need to AMPLIFY, so the transcribers can get it right. Maybe they need a black transcriber to translate her dialect. West can’t figure out what she’s saying either at some points. It truly is a “Black thang” LOL
I am proud of her though. She is adamant about what happened. They should not have
introduced this. She clears it up. The more she talks, the worse it gets for them.
YES! Keep digging West, GZ the sociopathic murderer is GOING DOWN.
West is a slimey snake trying to sneak in evidence that has not been marked as evidence.
Ain’t that a bish?!
Handle your BUSINESS, Rachel. Judge Nelson having to coach and chide West is nonsense. I wouldn’t let this man give me the time of day.
Don West says loudly: You don’t know if Trayvon drove his fist into Zimmerman’s face?
Judge Nelson: Lower your voice.
***********************
West is ticked b/c he can’t change her story of what Trayvon told her. Trayvon ran away from the creepy ass stalking sob.
Now he wants her to testify about a recording but doesn’t want to enter it as evidence?
WTH?
jelena, West is a snake, thinking he can just do as he pleases and won’t be challenged on abiding by the court rules and laws. He and Gz are a perfect fit.
He’s trying to pull a fast one!
Then he’s granted permission to introduce it as evidence, and Dela objects, because Rachel has already stated what she said. She didn’t transcribe it And now West wants to prove she said what she said and didn’t say IT’S CRAZY.
Hang in there, Rachel. The fact that West & Co are hammering away at your testimony is because it is the MOST DAMNING to GZ.
You can do this, Ms. Jeantel.
Don West asked Rachel Jeantel if TrayvonMartin said “why are you following me for” in a loud voice. Rachel Jeantel says it wasn’t loud, just a question, sir.
3 Chics is NOT, we REPEAT will NOT allow the negroes or the media discredit, malign, or denigrate Rachel Jeantel or Trayvon Martin. GOT IT?!
Amen
They’re attacking RAchel, because she will be the person that sends that murdering sociopath George Zimmerman to the pokey!
Judge Nelson having to reschool these mofos on what to do when an OBJECTION is made. SHAMEFUL
Court is back in session.
Rachel is answering West’s question and he’s teling her she’s already answered it when he asked the question. Stupid fucker!
George Zimmerman’s entire story is a damn lie! Trayvon Martin is speaking from the grave through Rachel Jeantel & exposing his lies.
Judge Nelson won’t even allow Don West’s sorry ass to approach the bench. SG2 LOVES IT!
Hey guys,
Judge Nelson is smacking down Don West left and right. She’s not putting up with his bs today.
Don West: Judge, may I approach the bench
Judge Nelson: No
**********************
Translation: Don’t you bring your ass up here. I don’t want to discuss ISH with you. Finish up the questions.
He doesn’t need to approach the bench and get anywhere near Rachel unless he has something to show her. Otherwis, stay the fuck away!
Judge Nelson seems wise to what West is trying to do, intimidate the witness with proximity, getting in her face. Such an a$$. I wonder where Zimmerman found these two clowns or if they volunteered.
Yamiche Alcindor :Judge Nelson tells West to step away from Jeantel. He was leaning over going over call records with her.
Court is in recess for 15 minutes
GO RACHEL JEANTEL! Just raw, unvarnished TRUTH-TELLING. Kudos! Trayvon’s smiling down on you.
The Zimmerman Trial, Rachel Jeantel and You
Wednesday, the prosecution in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin presented their star witness — the last person to speak to Martin before he was killed by George Zimmerman. Her name was Rachel Jeantel. She was 19, she talked low, she was nervous and she was very raw and unpolished in her delivery of her testimony. She had no poker face. She didn’t want to be there and she was obviously still hurting over the murder of her friend.
And while some people on Twitter focused on this, some other’s spent their time calling her “Precious.
“Precious,” as you may recall is the main character from the film based on the book “Push.” She is a heavyset, poorly educated black girl who has been abused most of her life and feels unloved. Calling Jeantel “Precious” was Twitter’s way of saying they were ashamed of the girl who was the key witness for not being thin, polished and conventionally pretty. That because she is not those things, she should be unloved (and preferably invisible).
And it was a way of saying they were ashamed of themselves.
Jeantel made some uncomfortable because she was too much like how some black people are. We all have relatives or have known someone like this or perhaps have even been Rachel Jeantel ourselves. And the self-loathing that is instilled in most of us to dislike ourselves — especially those who are darker and heavyset and remind us of the stereotypes we are running from — is real and it was on display in real time on Twitter. It wasn’t surprising, but it was disappointing that those commenting, often with spelling errors and poor grammar of their own, were allowing their fear of “the white folks are going to think we’re all like this” cloud the fact that Jeantel was simply being herself.
Jeantel didn’t purposefully set out to not be a model black teen. She’s a human being with flaws, flaws that make some people uncomfortable, but rather than deal with WHY they feel so strongly about her low talking and thick accent and her appearance, they took it out on her. Murders don’t happen with perfect victims and perfect witnesses, they happen in the real world with real, everyday people.
Jeantel is one of those people. Trayvon Martin was one of those people. So are Trayvon’s parents. These are not actors in a Lifetime film about the killing of Trayvon Martin. These are the ordinary people thrown into extraordinary events, placed on a national stage they never knew they’d be on and had not spent their lives preparing for. They were forced into this spotlight when George Zimmerman shot their friend and son.
They did not choose it, so don’t treat them like they did.
http://blacksnob.com/snob_blog/2013/6/27/the-zimmerman-trial-rachel-jeantel-and-you.html#.UcxJzuMo670
Negroes watching too much tee vee. Fuck’em! See this is why we can’t have nice things.
Beautifully written. As for Jeantel, Trayvon liked her, apparently a lot. She lost her childhood friend and she was the last person to speak to him moments before his brutal murder and now she is engaged in the fight for justice for her friend. I cannot even imagine having no empathy for this young woman.
Tony Pipitone: Jeantel testimony on TravyonMartin running consistent with Zimmerman story and forensic times almost to the second.
Rachel Jeantel says Trayvon Martin ran because she could hear the wind though the phone.
Loving Rachel’s testimony. It’s simple, straight facts, no chasers. I can hear that wind blowing too, Rachel. Trayvon’s with you all the way.
There you go, Rachel! You don’t live in that area! BAM!
Some of the questions he asks are downright stupid.
He wants to embarrass her. Give me strength, Lord!
Rachel Jeantel says she told Trayvon Martin to run and try to lose the man following.
Yamiche Alcindor: Jeantl: Trayvon’s phone kept hanging up while he said Zimmerman was following him & when he was trying to lose Zimmerman b/c of a bad signal
West is irritated b/c Rachel blows his client’s self defense claims and he can’t change it. Fuck you, West and lock his mofo ass up!
Yes. He is having a hard time handling her. She is smarter than they realize and they desperately need to impeach her.
No sir, yes sir is a great response to this mofo. I hope the prosecution is taking care and providing Rachel with support.
LOL I love Rachel’s response of “YES SIR.” Give that mofo as little as possible.
Shorter Judge: “You can’t roll up in the courtroom looking like Skeletor missing his True Blood and get nasty with the witness…Sir”
— #FeministMILF (@FeministaJones) June 27, 2013
LOL
West continues to ask the same questions over & over & over. When is it enough, got dammit?
Yamiche Alcindor :Jeantel said the only thing she changed because of TrayvonMartin ‘s mother in interview was Trayvon’s language & use of “cracker” & cursing
Judge Nelson needs to REIGN in this muthafucka for asking the same fucking questions of Rachel. ASKED & ANSWERED. NEXT!
Don West is trying to confuse this witness and exploit her pain! He’s a sadistic SOB!
She is managing to keep it together though.
This is what irritates me. He keeps asking questions that we already know the answers to. I could be the witness at this point.
and a racist piece of shyt to boot
Don West, your client profiled, stalked, chased and gunned down Trayvon Martin. Nothing can change THAT!
Got dammit! Ask law enforcement, West! How the fuck does she know why law enforcement did things the way they did?
Don West: Can I be given some latitude on cross?
Judge Nelson: You have been given a lot of latitude!
********************************
Now all of a sudden folks are OFFENDED by creepy ass cracker but “nigger” isn’t offensive?
KMBA!
West to Judge Nelson: May I approach the bench? Judge Nelson: No!
****************************
Did the judge just tell West no he can’t approach the bench?
Defense gives a copy of letter to witness to read. She says she can’t read it b/c she “can’t read cursive.”
The defense realizes that DeeDee is functionally illiterate ( Francis wrote it and DeeDee dictated it) and they want to embarrass her and make her the stereotypical dumb black hoping that she will lose credibility and that the jury won’t identify with her.
@roderick2012. Coming in late and listening to the beginning of the hearing now. Roderick, I got the same impression. Her mom is from Haiti, one for the most poorest , uneducated countries on the planet. There’s also a chance that French or a form of French is spoken in her house. IMO, at the age of 19, she is very strong to not give up on attending school.
Several posters on Leatherman suggested that DeeDee has a learning disability like Asperger’s and is actually highly functioning but her communication skills lag.
This is a strange trial. Only one male has been among the witnesses so far. Oh I mean two….strange!!
@roderick2012.
I’m not qualified to form an opinion in that area. What I do know by experience is that I’ve met people from or whose parents are from places such as Haiti and also Trinidad/Tobago. They retain the “old” language in the household so they can communicate with family members of the older generation. It is common for words that establish time to be reversed. Hard to articulate — for instance, “I went to the store” is said, “To the store I go.” The person already went to the store, so if anyone is listening to establish “fact,” they have to take the entire context into consideration. For instance, the conversation might have began by saying,”That is a gorgeous dress. Where did you get it?” “To the store I go” acknowledges that they did not purchase the dress from a street market, or friend.
Isn’t it more common for single women to purchase condos?
I agree with you about the language issue.
I was thinking more along the lines of astrology than logic. *wink*
@roderick2012.
Okay, smarty pants. :-)
Don West continues to question Rachel Jeantel.
They knit pick so much it even gets on my nerves.
Rachel Jeantel is back on the stand.
Court is in session
Pray tell? Why is it some white pundits would rather believe a 28 yr old MAN is going through puberty but NEVER a 17 yr old black boy?
Racism & white priviledge is one HELLUVA DISEASE.
Rachel Jeantel: “Trayvon has a baby voice.”
Good morning, everyone! One more day closer to Justice4Trayvon!
Put your hoodies up!
So West is going to question Rachel Jeantel again today; word is he’s going to try and break her.
Hoodie is up
HOODIES UP!