Video| President Obama Speaks to the Press on Trayvon Martin, The Zimmerman Verdict & Black America’s Reactions

HERE’S WHY THEY’RE MAD.

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EXCERPTS:

Full transcript here.

President Obama just handed  Racist Americans a gift.  Take your pick ladies and gents.

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This entry was posted in Barack Obama, Current Events, POTUS, President Obama, Racial Profiling, Racism and tagged , . Bookmark the permalink.

195 Responses to Video| President Obama Speaks to the Press on Trayvon Martin, The Zimmerman Verdict & Black America’s Reactions

  1. MSNBC Contributor: ‘Absolute Vitriol’ And Lack Of ‘Basic Human Sympathy’ To Trayvon Family On The Right

    http://bit.ly/13HQnE5

    President Obama‘s remarks on Trayvon Martin today were immediately met with anger and outrage on the right, including one comment that Obama is the “race-baiter in chief.” On Hardball today, MSNBC contributor Joy Reid touted this as the latest example of Republicans not caring at all about expanding their appeal to minority groups. She told Republican strategist John Feehery that the right has idolized Zimmerman while lacking any kind of “basic human sympathy” for Martin’s family.

    Feehery told guest host Michael Smerconish that he would personally advise Republicans to respond to what Obama said “very carefully,” and while he thought it was important for Obama to speak out, he wished the president had talked more about the media “fostering fear” in the Zimmerman case. He explained that if Republicans want to grow their base, they can’t get too involved in explosive debates on the subject.

    Reid almost immediately dismissed everything Feehery said. She told Smerconish, “I don’t see any context in which Republicans are trying to grow their base in any policy matter.” Feehery interjected to dispute that, but Reid cited the heated immigration debate before telling him it’s too late for the GOP to tread lightly in the Zimmerman case.

    “On this issue, what I have heard is absolute vitriol toward Trayvon Martin and his family, and embracing of George Zimmerman as some sort of folk hero on the far right. I haven’t seen any responsible voices in the Republican party saying that’s a bad idea, and not even any basic human sympathy for the family of Trayvon Martin.”

    She continued that she has been “called the n-word every 30 seconds” on Twitter from people from the far-right since the verdict, and challenged Feehery that there is no one in the GOP who has stood up and said they need to “stop constantly overdoing our attacks on Barack Obama, because it’s turning people off.” Feehery noted the way in which the media’s presented the Zimmerman case has been “utterly destructive to the country,” and the two of them rehashed previous arguments about the facts of the case before Smerconish jumped in.

  2. Sybrina Fulton and Rev Al in Harlem at the House of Justice NAN before heading to NY 100 cities vigil

    Sybrina Fulton and Rev Al in Harlem at the “House of Justice” NAN’s Harlem headquarters before heading to the NYC 100 City Trayvon vigil

  3. President Obama speaks up for Trayvon Martin

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2013/07/19/president-obama-speaks-up-for-trayvon-martin/?hpid=z2

    President Obama’s unannounced entry into the White House Briefing Room took reporters by surprise. But what he had to say took the nation by surprise. In his first public remarks since his written statement after George Zimmerman was found not guilty in the killing of Trayvon Martin, Obama gave voice to the frustration and fear that has gripped the African American community. And he did it in the most personal terms we have seen to date.

    What is so significant is that the president spoke up for Trayvon. After a trial that seemed to put Trayvon on trial for his own death and a verdict that freed people to smear all young black men for the actions of a few, Obama’s nearly 20-minute oration restored Trayvon’s dignity.

    The unarmed 17-year-old was doing nothing wrong or illegal when he piqued Zimmerman’s suspicions in the early evening of Feb. 26, 2012. The president made the circumstances surrounding his death the focus of his remarks. And he expressed unflinching sympathy for Trayvon’s parents and the Martin family.

  4. rikyrah says:

    creolechild

    There was never any doubt about how PBO’s impromptu speech would be received in certain quarters. But my son walked into room as I watched it and didn’t move until it was over. The look on his face afterwards was hard to describe. When he left the room I just broke down and cried because as his mother I know how much those words, coming from PBO meant to him.

    It dawned on me that while family and friends are instrumental in building our children’s self-esteem and confidence, there is nothing more powerful to them than to hear the President say that he’s had some of the same experiences; they are valued, and he will do what he can to try to alleviate some of the burdens which they bear because they’re constantly bombarded with negative depictions of what others perceive them to be. So, this is a reminder to me, as well as the rest of our family, to be conscious of that fact and encourage than our boys and girls more than we do already. Sending big hugs your way.

  5. rikyrah says:

    Why Obama decided to speak out
    By Justin Sink – 07/19/13 03:57 PM ET

    President Obama informed his senior staff Thursday that he wanted to address the Trayvon Martin verdict after having “several conversations with his family and friends,” according to a White House official.

    The president felt it was “important that he make remarks so the country could hear from him in a broader context,” the official said, adding the president had been “watching the reaction around the country and in the African-American community.”

    Obama on Friday said it was important to consider the death of the Florida teen and the reaction to the acquittal of his shooter, George Zimmerman, within the context of American race relations.

    http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/312331-why-obama-decided-to-speak-out#ixzz2ZXcgeTjl

  6. Yahtc says:

    Praise! What a wonderful, historic day this has been. May we seen movement in a forward direction.

  7. rikyrah says:

    annvic >

    Oh, it is real and they are desperate to discredit Obama. White liberals loooooove co-opting the struggles of people of color so they can wrap themselves in our pain and play a perverted game of dress up where they get to play-act oppression. They fell in love with the “Obama drones poor brown people” meme because it allowed them to play white knights to coloreds (they don’t really give a fuck about those people) and it allowed them to practice their favorite activity of attacking Obama in the name of moral righeousness at the same time. Welp, here comes the Trayvon Martin verdict in which racial oppression comes barreling forth in the form of the legal system’s belief in the worthlessness of black life. Black people are outraged and take to the streets to protest and hold vigils (things that, strangely enough, those white liberals never got around to doing in the name of those droned brown folk they love so much) and generally dominate the conversation about the verdict

    Well now, we can’t have blacks taking ownership over the conversation about our oppression! That’s the job for the kindly white liberal who speaks of our pain for us so we don’t have to worry our wooly little heads about speaking for ourselves. After all, only they have the proper objectivity to judge the situation properly while we get bogged down in emotion. So white liberals attempt to take over the conversation by questioning why Obama hasn’t issued a statement. Then President Obama issues a statement. Then they say it’s not good enough. Black people say shut the hell up. Then they send their pet negros out to say it’s not good enough. Black people say shut the hell up. Then, they decide on a new tactic: using Trayvon’s death to shame President Obama for droning deaths. Black people threaten to cut a switch. Then President Obama holds a press conference and TELLS WHITE AMERICA THE TRUTH ABOUT ITSELF and all manner of white folk proceed to lose it. For white liberal Salon, this ‘losing it’ takes the form of hiring a coon de jeur to call Eric Holder and President Obama ‘niggers’. Like racist whites since time immemorial, they want to put two black men in their place, period. It’s disgusting.

    • Ametia says:

      NAILED IT!

      LOL@That’s the job for the kindly white liberal who speaks of our pain for us so we don’t have to worry our wooly little heads about speaking for ourselves. “

      SO MUCH TRUTH-TELLING HERE

      APPLAUSE-LTCSA-EqRJH

    • LeaNder says:

      What is this Salon story about? I have seen tweets but couldn’t figure out what it was about.

      I could tell my earliest childhood anger encountering the enforcement of divisions of people into groups with the age of eight. Yes racism may well run deeply in both sides of the political party system. Maybe since it is a deeply human flaw? But should one solve racism by collectively call all whites racists and thus ultimately set up the groups against each other? Or should one maybe adopt an expression of a blogger friend for a different but equally racist context: Progressives except for AA rights. PEAAR? Now to make things even more complicated I read a conservative yesterday who considered the verdict wrong.

      i find these polite democratic racists like Jeralyn Merritt, I have no idea about O’Mara and West’s political position but I would put them in the same camp, much more interesting than the usual dumbheads on the issue, that’s absolutely true.

      But instead of my own story, here the story of a white woman, which I find quite interesting:

      HMReader 07/14/2013 at 10:58 am

      Back in the mid 1990′s, when I (as a young single white woman) was living in Los Angeles, I used to take the city bus to work. One morning, as I stood within a covered bus shelter and watched a stream of cars going past, I was baffled that virtually every driver who glanced toward me and the bus stop, gave a hard stare or even looked downright angry.

      There was a traffic light a few feet past the bus shelter. As vehicles stopped at each red light, and various drivers again looked my way, face after face inexplicably darkened. I heard the “thunk, thunk, thunk” of door locks clicking down as drivers locked their doors. “What is going on?” I wondered. I was used to seeing a variety of gazes as I waited at bus stops, some indifferent, some friendly, some clearly checking me out flirtatiously, but never had I felt such a wave of universal hostility.

      “Has something crazy happened in Los Angeles? Did every Angeleno get up on the wrong side of the bed?” I wondered. It was a very unpleasant feeling. At last, the city bus pulled up. The doors opened and as I stepped out of the shelter, a young black man stepped forward and went up the steps into the bus ahead of me. He had been standing, hidden from my view, on the other side of the bus shelter.

      In a flash, I realized, given the angle, that all those hard glances, all those abruptly darkened gazes, all those hammered down door locks were quite likely directed at him.

      It was the darkest epiphany. He was otherwise absolutely unremarkable. Just a tall young black fellow in jeans and a t-shirt. “My God,” I thought. “Is that what he always faces? Looks of suspicion, fear, and outright anger? I’d be depressed if I had to face such universal hostility day after day.” It was a true eye opener–the only time I ever felt that I had slipped into another person’s skin and known the world as that person did.

      For a few moments, I had intensely felt what had always been a rather abstract realization: that we each experience the world quite differently, according to the first impression reception that we receive from others. I can’t begin to fathom how such an ongoing hostile reception might change and shape who I would be. It’s no wonder there’s such a huge gulf between white and black experience; we walk the same earth, but we live on separate planets

  8. rikyrah says:

    @profblmkelley

    And exactly what about AG Holder is n*gger-like @RichBenjaminUSA? @Salon?

  9. rikyrah says:

    Barack and Trayvon
    By CHARLES M. BLOW
    Published: July 19, 2013

    On Friday President Obama picked at America’s racial wound, and it bled a bit.

    Despite persistent attempts by some to divest the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman tragedy of its racial resonance, the president refused to allow it.

    During a press briefing, Mr. Obama spoke of the case, soberly and deliberately, in an achingly personal tone, saying: “You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

    With that statement, an exalted black man found kinship with a buried black boy, the two inextricably linked by inescapable biases, one expressing the pains and peril of living behind the veil of his brown skin while the other no longer could.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/20/opinion/blow-barack-and-trayvon.html?_r=1&

  10. rikyrah says:

    @AngryBlackLady 18s
    “Some of us have an Inner Child. Others have an Inner Nigger. Is Holder the prez’s conscience? Or his Inner Nigger?” @Salon published that.

    ………………………………………………………………..

    @AngryBlackLady 1m
    When I said publish more voices of color, this wasn’t what I had in mind, @Salon.
    ‏@elonjames 1m
    Wow. And @Salon–do you guys not have editors? What editor in their right mind sees “Inner Nigger” and thinks “Publish this ASAP.”

    ‏@elonjames 1m
    Fuck your career. This isnt about how many hits you can get. This is so much bigger than that and muthafuckas out here trying to be popular.

    • rikyrah says:

      @elonjames 8m
      Dear White People & Organizations: having negroes make dumbass arguments does not shield you from critique. CC: @Salon @davidsirota

  11. Yahtc says:

    Thanks for posting the transcript, Ametia!

    I am going to print it out.

  12. rikyrah says:

    Why Did the Jury NEVER see Trayvon Martin as a CHILD?

    By zizi2

    Why Did Jury NEVER see Trayvon Martin as a CHILD? Ida B Wells Barnett explains in 1895 _A Red Record_

    by @zizii2

    “A Black person has “no rights which a white man is bound to respect.” ~ Chief Justice Roger B. Taney in 1857

    In his impromptu remarks this afternoon in the White House Press Room, President Obama asked a most salient question: “If Trayvon Martin had been of age and armed would he have been justified in standing his ground on that sidewalk?” Of course that hypothetical question is premised on Trayvon having the right to carry a weapon as an adult. But Sybrina Fulton yesterday put her finger on the more immediate concern. To her the jury did not consider Trayvon as their own Child. In other words, Empathy Deficit. But there is a reason for that. American culture has NEVER had a place for children of color in its construction of childhood.

    Six days since the phrase “Not Guilty” was curtly announced at the George Zimmerman trial about the killing of Trayvon Martin, a lot has been written from various perspectives endorsing, questioning, or parsing the verdict. A wave of activism has also sprung up in its wake demanding revisions to Stand Your Ground laws in states like Florida, while campaigns such as the NAACP’s #HesNotaSuspect seek to validate the human worth of black male children.

    However at the crux of the court case, a key element never came up: What were Trayvon’s RIGHTS as a CHILD in the encounter with George Zimmerman that fateful night? What provisions do Stand Your Ground laws have to protect children in any encounter with an adult? What is a child supposed to do when confronted by an armed assailant/stalker/intruder/stranger?

    http://theobamadiary.com/2013/07/19/why-did-jury-never-see-trayvon-martin-as-a-child/#comment-786010

    • Yahtc says:

      These question MUST be answered:

      What were Trayvon’s RIGHTS as a CHILD in the encounter with George Zimmerman that fateful night? What provisions do Stand Your Ground laws have to protect children in any encounter with an adult? What is a child supposed to do when confronted by an armed assailant/stalker/intruder/stranger?

  13. Xena says:

    Good evening everyone! I’m catching up and was watching the videos. Thanks for providing them. The 4th one has an error message that the account has been cancelled by Youtube. :-(

    AC360 is now on with “Town Hall” discussing race. Attorney Crump and Angela Corey are guests.

  14. rikyrah says:

    Miranda

    I think the reason there is so much vitriol and vile things said about Trayvon is because of Tracy. Why? Because here is a black man who loved his son dearly, one of the most memorable pics of Trayvon is the one with his dad with his arm around him kissing him…its a picture that destroys the stereotype of the absentee black dad. What has the public seen? Has it been some crazed black man ranting and raving and cussing? No…they are forced to see a grieving father. A man who has shown nothing but the strength and grace of God. Even the stereotype of the black Mom and Black dad that just can’t get along has been shown to be not true. Guess what? Some black parents that aren’t together can get along…imagine that. I will never forget hearing Sybrina say that she was so grateful for Tracy because she could do nothing but stay in bed and cry while Tracy planned Trayvon’s funeral. I will never forget them sitting there holding hands as they saw the charges being read. They have been everything we are told we are NOT. They have shown courage through their pain. Black people are so routinely shown as nothing but animals with no humanity that I believe the reason for so much hatred for them and Trayvon is because of that very reason. These racists and their media handlers are upset they have to see black people being what they can’t be….HUMAN.

  15. rikyrah says:

    annvic >

    See, twitter is the social media format that black america has been waiting for. It’s word limit fits perfectly with our short and snappy verbal dexterity, the format allows us to community build with each other over similiar interests, and the rapid-fire nature of twitter allows us to dish out hailstorm-levels of shade and justice to those in need. We can dominate twitter with a days long mockery of a racist, we can push to have a murdered child’s case bought to court, and we can have dumbasses ill-gotten book deals snatched in the blink of an eye. Twitter is where Kunte and Kizzy go to not only talk back, but where we lay justice *down* on errant white folk (and the house negros that aid them). They cannot staaaaaaaaand that or the fact that we brought our dazzling and well honed communication skills filled with wit, humor, insight, and truth to twitter and have become the collective belle of the ball for doing so. So here come the “othering” articles and smack-down trying to downplay what Black Twitter does and put us back into place. Whatever, man; I hope you have your wig properly secured, ’cause when Black twitter finds out………

    • Ametia says:

      I’ve been saying TWITTER IS BLACK FOLKS 21ST CENTURY WEAPON.

      We will not be SHUTDOWN We will NOT be SILENCED.

      Keep SNATCHING WIGS, MY PEEPS!

  16. rikyrah says:

    @nanicoolj

    @dopegirlfresh Tavis is the Creflo Dollar of Social Justice. He needs to have a damn seat.

  17. rikyrah says:

    @elonjames
    Ma’am, Tavis is why the caged bird is still in the cage…waiting for his Inauguration ticket… @goldietaylor

  18. rikyrah says:

    @HelloPoodle
    @ReignOfApril @Nopoints4second I was specifically instructed by management at Lane Bryant in the 80s to follow black customers.

  19. rikyrah says:

    @Thejazzchick
    Black on Black crime is used to marginalize. Why,when 86% of white homicides were committed by whites don’t we hear #whiteonwhitecrime? #Oh

  20. rikyrah says:

    @goldietaylor
    People talk about the president “embracing” his Blackness as if he ever let it go…

  21. rikyrah says:

    @SpikeLee
    I Applaud Our President Barack Obama For Breaking It Down,Dropping Science On The Fiasco Of Justice In The Sunshine State.Trayvon Martin RIP

  22. GrannyStandingforTruth says:

    The Best Sermon About Trayvon That You Will Hear
    Pastor Howard-John Wesley rallies his congregation to push back against the verdict.

    By Elizabeth Dias @elizabethjdiasJuly 18, 20139 Comments
    RELATED

    TIME Cover: “After Trayvon”
    If you hear one sermon about America’s Trayvon Martin moment, let it be this one. Pastor Howard-John Wesley of Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Va., preached this powerful message on Sunday, July 14, the morning after a Florida jury found George Zimmerman not guilty of Martin’s death. “I have a racial consciousness that lets me know that in situations like this it typically does not work out in our favor,” he preaches. “This is not the first we’ve had to learn to live with a verdict that hurts.”

    Wesley tells TIME:

    My Christian faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ assures me that an unjust verdict is never the end of the story and the saga of divine grace and justice. I place my faith and surrender my anger to the Lord and then I’m grabbing my shoes and marching with others to the Departments of Justice around this land demanding that the story of Trayvon Martin continue.
    For more on how Wesley and other pastors around the country are rallying their congregations to push back against the verdict and the state of race relations in America, read this week’s cover story.
    Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/07/18/the-best-sermon-about-trayvon-that-you-will-hear/#ixzz2ZXbVqkOd

    http://youtu.be/hqhOe85_vA8

    • Yahtc says:

      I am humbled before you……I heard the verdict read…..I heard your heartbeat….I felt your soul……I am in filled with in the face of your emotional survival……I so want to hug each one of you

  23. Gun Shop Invites Zimmerman To Pick Out Free Replacement Weapon

    http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/07/19/gun-shop-invites-zimmerman-to-pick-out-free-replacement-weapon/

    Following the news that the Department of Justice has ordered prosecutors in the George Zimmerman case to preserve all evidence, including the firearm he used to shoot and kill Florida teen Trayvon Martin, a Florida gun shop has stepped up to offer Zimmerman a free gun. A letter was sent to Zimmerman’s attorney, from the Volusia County gun store, Pompano Pats. The letter reads:

    Upon receiving your confirmation that he is well within his legal rights to concealed carry, our company would like to offer Mr. Zimmerman a free firearm. We currently have the same model in stock, or he could (choose) another weapon suitable for concealed carry.”

    The letter goes on to say “We have read numerous reports of death threats against your client and believe no good would come from harming him.” Keeping that in mind, and keeping in mind that Zimmerman has already killed once, based on what many believe was nothing outside of his own fear of minorities, and his own paranoid perceptions which led him to feel “threatened”, what is to now prevent him from killing another innocent person or more than one? Since Florida Stand Your Ground Law allows you to shoot another person based solely on whether or not you “felt threatened” it seems likely that Zimmerman will kill again.

    If indeed Zimmerman has received death threats, he is undoubtedly already feeling threatened. There is also good reason to believe he was paranoid prior to shooting Trayvon Martin. On Zimmerman’s MySpace page from 2005, he makes comments about how “every Mexican you see holds a knife to your throat.” This is a pretty good indication that he thinks in all or none terms. If he believed then that all Mexicans wanted to cut his throat, how much more does he believe, now, that all African-Americans want to kill him?

    We can only imagine how much his previous paranoia has intensified in the days and months since he shot Trayvon Martin. The case has been front and center in every media outlet for over a year, with nearly non-stop coverage over the past few months, while his murder trial was underway. Protests have broken out across the country, and hundreds of thousands of people have stood up demanding that Zimmerman be held accountable for his crimes. What effect does all of this have an already paranoid mind?

    This gun shop thinks it’s a great idea to give him another gun and then send him back out onto the streets of Florida… I can see him now, looking over his shoulder everywhere he goes, giving a sideways glance to every African-American who passes him by on the street, placing his hand on his newly gained weapon, every time he passes by a teenager eating skittles… Is George Zimmerman feeling threatened today? I believe he is. In Florida that fact alone, already gives him the right to kill again.

  24. Ametia says:

    ABOLISH SYG LAWS!

  25. Ametia says:

    I can’t stand these white male pundits trying to interpret PBO’s address. We need to hear them speak about their RACISM.

  26. Ametia says:

    MTP David Gregory hosting a discusion on race Sunday. REALLY?

  27. Ametia says:

    @BlackCanseco
    Obama gave his “The Negro You Wish Never Made It Outta Local Politics” speech today. Pissed off Whitefolk of all stripes.

    @BlackCanseco
    Was Obama “injecting race” when Whites kept asking for his birth certificate and claiming Affirmative Action was why he got in Harvard?

    @BlackCanseco
    Was Obama “injecting race” when Whites kept saying the only reason he got elected was cuz Blacks voted for the Black guy?

  28. jelana says:

    I LOVE our President!!

    • Yahtc says:

      God bless President Obama!

      • Ametia says:

        @Liza. PBO is the Consoler-in-Chief. Sybrina’s prayers were answered. She and Tracy, more than most really needed to hear his words today.

    • Liza says:

      I am so grateful to PBO for saying these things, for being honest and telling it like it is. At this time last week we were still hoping for justice for Trayvon, but that didn’t happen. I think that PBO knew that so many Americans were hurting and decided to carry the load, to do something both magnanimous and healing.

  29. “President Obama sees himself in Trayvon and identifies with him. This is a beautiful tribute to our boy.”

    http://e2.ma/message/c8zwc/key9cb

  30. Melissa @ MSNBC ‏@MHPshow

    Tune in tonight to @msnbc at 9pm ET, #nerdland. @MHarrisPerry and @alexwagner are hosting a special about President Obama’s comments today!

  31. Zimmerman’s defense responds to Potus.

    Attorneys of George Zimmerman : This case has given the nation an opportunity to have a conversation about race. We’d like to contribute

    *********************

    Sexy Girl Middle Finger

  32. Ametia says:

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    Media Contact: Kamian Allen
    Phone: 646-723-4344
    E-mail: kamian@thetascgroup.com

    Rida Bint Fozi
    Phone: 646-723-4344
    E-mail: rida@thetascgroup.com

    Sybrina Fulton & Tracy Martin Comment on
    President Obama’s Remarks About Trayvon Martin

    New York, NY – July 19, 2013: We are deeply honored and moved that President Obama took the time to speak publicly and at length about our son, Trayvon. The President’s comments give us great strength at this time. We are thankful for President Obama’s and Michelle’s prayers, and we ask for your prayers as well as we continue to move forward.

    We know that the death of our son Trayvon, the trial and the not guilty verdict have been deeply painful and difficult for many people. We know our family has become a conduit for people to talk about race in America and to try and talk about the difficult issues that we need to bring into the light in order to become a better people.

    What touches people is that our son, Trayvon Benjamin Martin, could have been their son. President Obama sees himself in Trayvon and identifies with him. This is a beautiful tribute to our boy.

    Trayvon’s life was cut short, but we hope that his legacy will make our communities a better place for generations to come. We applaud the President’s call to action to bring communities together to encourage an open and difficult dialogue. Our family is committed to this dialogue through the work of the Trayvon Martin Foundation.

    We seek a future when a child can walk down the street and not worry that others see him as dangerous because of the color of his skin or the clothes on his back. We seek a future where our children can grow up and become the people God intended them to be.

    For media inquiries contact Kamian Allen or Rida Bint Fozi at The TASC Group at 646-723-4344 or kamian@thetascgroup.com / rida@thetascgroup.com.

    http://e2.ma/message/c8zwc/key9cb

  33. veridict rally33

    People hold photos of Trayvon Martin at a rally honoring Martin at Union Square in Manhattan on July 14, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

  34. The right wing heads are exploding b/c Potus’ thoughts and prayers were for the MARTINS!

    • Ametia says:

      LOL And if he had? That SO-SHUL-IST is showing sympathy for a murderer who claimed self defense. No win with these fools, so FUCK’EM!

  35. GrannyStandingforTruth says:

    Off topic.
    Okay, ladies I’ll be back later. I have a Dr. appt and need go check on my child and see how she’s doing. Still waiting to see what Doctors plan to do. Keep her in prayer. I truly believe that God is able and that he can do anything but fail.

  36. Yahtc says:

    I am so moved and grateful that I was able to see this historic moment in REAL time.

    Thank you SOooooo much, SouthernGirl2 !

  37. rikyrah says:

    gn •

    Crabis is *pissed*—whole hustle, gone.

    @tavissmiley
    Took POTUS almost a week to show up and express mild outrage. And still, it was as weak as pre-sweetened Kool-Aid.

    @tavissmiley
    Another forced lecture on race. And STILL skirting his MORAL responsibility to lead on the most vexing societal issue. #TrayvonMartin

    ‏@tavissmiley
    POTUS still kicking the race can down the road. His lack of courage and leadership on this issue is emotionally debilitating. #TrayvonMartin

    • GrannyStandingforTruth says:

      Travis Smiley would you go and play on the Texas freeway. Before you do that, would you go and seek help for that jealous spirit you have. Don’t forget to pick up your check from those companies that caused Blacks to become homeless in that mortgage scandal.

    • Ametia says:

      Hekyl & Jekyl can have 2 stadiums full-o-seats.

  38. rikyrah says:

    Angelo Carusone ‏@GoAngelo1h
    Fox News is complaining Obama only offered words of comfort to Trayvon’s family, but none for Zimmerman or his family. Uhh…he killed a kid

    • GrannyStandingforTruth says:

      The Zimmerman didn’t need anymore comfort, they’ve been comforted all throughout the trial by Fox We Make It Up News and HLN. Dang, they didn’t lose a son. Their child murdering son is still with them. The Martins will never see their son again.

    • Liza says:

      Part of the reason that Zimmerman turned out so bad is that his parents made sure he never faced consequences for his wrongdoing at any time in his life. Zimmerman’s parents deserve no words of comfort. They birthed and raised a monster, f*ck them, they should have used birth control instead.

    • Ametia says:

      Let Faux Noise give the child murderer and his family comfort; since none of these folks claim Barack Obama as their POTUS anyway.

  39. GrannyStandingforTruth says:

    And I hope they try to bring up that racism ended because whites voted for a Black president. Because I’ll be the first to remind them how they stereotyped President Barack Obama and called him a thug, not articulate, was a savage, foodstamp president, and had inferior intelligence. Sounds like typical stereotyping to me. You feel me?

  40. Ametia says:

    Now where is the LGBT community?

  41. rikyrah says:

    ‘Trayvon Martin could’ve been me’
    By Steve Benen
    Fri Jul 19, 2013 2:18 PM EDT

    Last weekend, not long after the jury delivered its verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, President Obama issued a written statement, urging all Americans to “respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.” Today, however, the president made an unexpected appearance at the White House press briefing room to speak to the issue in more detail.

    For those who can’t watch the video posted above, this was a rather remarkable moment for the nation’s first African-American president, who reflected on the story and race in America with an eloquence that has sometimes been lacking of late.

    President Barack Obama emerged Friday to give voice to African Americans’ reaction to last weekend’s verdict in the George Zimmerman case, saying that Trayvon Martin “could have been me 35 years ago.”

    He also suggested that the outcome of the case could have been different if Martin were white. “If a white male teen would have been involved in this scenario,” he said, “both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different

    Obama went on to reflect on his own experiences as a black man, drawing scrutiny in department stores, hearing car-door clicks as he walked down sidewalks, and seeing women clutch their purses nervously with him in an elevator. “The African-American community is looking at this through a set of experiences and history that doesn’t go away,” he said.

    Obama also broached the subject of “racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws” — including the death penalty and drug laws — which generally is left out of our public conversation.

    But perhaps most provocatively, the president reflected on an imaginary scenario. “If Trayvon Martin was of age and was armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?” Obama asked. “If the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, then it seems to me that we should examine those laws.”

    It was a rather remarkable display

    http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/07/19/19563566-trayvon-martin-couldve-been-me?lite

    • Liza says:

      “If Trayvon Martin was of age and was armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?”

      The answer to that question is that if Trayvon Martin had been a 28 year old Neighborhood Watch captain patroling his neighborhood armed and loaded, and George Zimmerman was a 17 year old kid who looked suspicious to him and ended up dead, then Trayvon would right now be accessible on the State of Florida’s Department of Corrections website probably with the Death Row inmates.

      Let’s be honest.

      • Ametia says:

        @Liza; these folks are traveling down that river in Egypt called DE-NIAL. They don’t want black folks to keep pointing out the racism, because they don’t want to look at what direction the fingers are pointing.

    • Ametia says:

      I want to hear and read what Rev. Al, Joy Reid, MED, and Charles Blow have to say about this presser.

      and I sincerely hope folks who are attending rallies and protest don’t stop.

  42. Ametia says:

    Exploding head

    Look out race riots among the Limpball KLAN!

  43. rikyrah says:

    @rollingingraves
    BOOM RT @HaroldItz The people who believe Trayvon had no right to be where he was also believe Obama has no right to be where he is.

    • Ametia says:

      ALL.OF.THIS. The KLAN has been put on notice. The POTUS just chin-checked y’all

      *LOOKING@TEABAGGERS-RANDPAUL-TEDCRUZ-GOP-SCALIA-ROBERTS-THOMAS- VOTERSUPPRESSIONLAWS-FLORIDA-SYG-NRA-CORRUPTPOLICE-KOCHBROTHERS* etc.

      Ya’ll help me out here.

    • GrannyStandingforTruth says:

      Amen, amen, and amen again!

  44. rikyrah says:

    President Obama just pulled the knife on Mister for all of us. We Ms. Sophias are home now and ready to get loose.
    — adept2u (@adept2u) July 19, 2013

  45. Yahtc says:

    Let’s remember this day in history: July 19, 2013 !!

    May the annals of history record it!

      • Yahtc says:

        – When you think about why, in the African-American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that – that doesn’t go away.

      • Yahtc says:

        – There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me. And there are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.

      • Yahtc says:

        – The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case.

      • the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that – that doesn’t go away.

        THIS!

      • Yahtc says:

        Yes, Southerngirl2,

        “Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons, is as important as the killing of White men, White mothers’ …..We who believe in Freedom cannot rest.”
        Ella Baker

  46. GrannyStandingforTruth says:

    Now, sit back and watch the racist come out with criticism of his speech. They won’t be hard to miss. They are the ones that believe in white supremacy. Those that believe in equality and justice for all take note because you’re gonna get to see who the real haters are.

    • Yahtc says:

      You know how to call it, Granny. You are right…..it will happen.

    • GrannyStandingforTruth says:

      The President gave an honest speech and laid it on the table. Those with real hatred in their heart for their fellow man will be coming out trying to twist his words. Watch! Fox We Make It Up News will be leading the pack of racist.

      We can live in this world and get along with one another. It’s not that hard. Believe it or not all human beings have something in common. They have the same hopes and dreams. However, we have haters in the world that want to keep up division because of greed and selfishness.

      The truth will set you free, but you have to be willing to receive and accept it. It’s long overdue to have an honest discussion about race and racism. And it is time to dig up the root of it and destroy it.

    • rikyrah says:

      true…

      but fuck ’em, Granny

  47. roderick2012 says:

    Is this sincere or is this opportunistic because since B37 spoke public opinion has shifted against the verdict because she’s obviously a racist and it’s now obvious that she was the most aggressive juror it’s likely that she persuaded the three who were initially against acquittal to eventually vote for full acquittal.

    The only way that Obama can prove that he is serious is to file federal charges against Fatback.

    • Ametia says:

      roderick; that is the role of the DOJ. Seriously, I’m NOT in the mood for this today. The president has spoken. If you don’t like it or believe it tough. Keep the negativity away from 3 Chics.

      • roderick2012 says:

        Come on Ametia.

        Can’t we all get along and I am just being realistic.

        Does anyone know is a grand jury has to be unanimous to indict Fatback?

  48. rikyrah says:

    @TheReidReport
    Obama: “when Trayvon Martin was shot, I said that could have been my son. Another way of saying that is that Trayvon could have been me.”

  49. GrannyStandingforTruth says:

    Hallelujah! Praise be to the Most High God!

  50. rikyrah says:

    @DebsWorldNY
    POTUS addressing history if disparity in the application of criminal laws. This is UNEQUIVOCAL.

  51. rikyrah says:

    @JamilSmith

    As an African-American man, I never thought I’d hear an American president say these things.

  52. rikyrah says:

    @itgurl_29
    No President has ever acknowledged black pain like that. Ever. So fuck outta here if you want to criticize. I’m not here for it!

  53. rikyrah says:

    @elonjames
    Yes America–your president recognizes race played a part in the #ZimmermanTrial. He’s not race baiting. He’s being honest. #ObamaOnTrayvon

    • Ametia says:

      Yes; but we know some folks don’t want HONESTY from this president. And for those who want to go there, how about this pic

      2TERMZS

  54. rikyrah says:

    gn •

    Please note that our President sent his and the First Lady’s thoughts and prayers to Trayvon’s family ONLY. No false equivalence to the Zimmermans. Please take note National Association of Black Journalists.

  55. rikyrah says:

    @trymainelee
    A truly historic moment. To stand from the highest office in the land and to hold up a mirror to America.

  56. rikyrah says:

    –“Just because we don’t live in a post-racial society doesn’t mean that racism has been eliminated.” President Obama

    — Obama “I don’t think it’s particularly productive when politicians try to convene discussions” on race.

    — -Obama: “And do we think he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman because he felt threatened, because he was being followed?”

    –Obama: “If Trayvon was of aged and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?”

    — -It is impossible to overstate how huge this statement by the president is right now. Impossible. #trayvonmartin

    • Ametia says:

      ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW PBO ASKED QUESTIONS.

      Now the media jackals, and cooning fools, ANSWER the damned questions yourselves.

  57. Trayvon Martin’s brother, Jahvaris Fulton, is currently an intern for Rep Frederica Wilson (D-FL), her office confirms to NBC News.

  58. Potus broke it DOWN! I’m emotional. It touched my heart.

    • Ametia says:

      I’m thrilled for Sybrina and Tracy. Sybrina’s prayers were answered today. She needed to hear PBO’s words.

      And now that the media’s gotten what they’ve been asking for in that PBO address the issue about racism. NOW WHAT?

      Let’s have the Lauers, Coopers, Morgans, Roses, Matthews, Schultzs hold TOWNHALLS and address white folks and their problem with BEING RACISTS.

  59. President Obama brought it today. I’m still crying.

    • Yahtc says:

      Yes, he did. I would like him to remain direct on racial issues now and let the chips fall where they may. This topic and cause requires it.

      • Ametia says:

        The chips fell November 4, 2008.

        Loved how he said this is not a post-racial society. Racism has NOT been eliminated.

        Ask that guy who stood outside the WH gate and fired a gun yesterday, if racism is dead.

  60. Potus: If Trayvon had been white, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

    **cries**

  61. Potus: This country has a history of bias and violence.

  62. Ametia says:

    President Obama says “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago,”

    • Yahtc says:

      I am glad he said that. Despite his critics from his “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon” and underlined and emphasized it again with the statement again. He was telling his critics, “Ain’t nobody gonna turn me around.”

      • Yahtc says:

        the statement again but rewritten to “Trayvon Martin could have been ME 35 years ago.”

      • When Potus stated “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon” and Trayvon Martin could have been ME 35 years ago” are one and the same. Some folks just didn’t get it.

  63. Ametia says:

    Sybrina Fulton is getting her request answered today by President Obama.

  64. President Obama: “If Trayvon was of aged and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk?”

  65. Ametia says:

    If Trayvon was 35 and of age with a gun, could he have stood his ground?

  66. Ametia says:

    POTUS: “Black folks understand the challenges faced by black boys. They get upset when the context is being ignored and denied”.

    • LeaNder says:

      Ametia, I am watching the white house petition and it almost stalls, hardly moving numbers up during the last few days to the goal of 100,000. I don’t know what you feel about it, and initially I was wondering it a case could be made, but it is no good sign anyway. Personally I find it hard to simply move on to a different topic.

      If feels to me there needs to be a wide support, not just by black people via NACAP.

      As a foreigner I cannot vote on the White House petition, otherwise I would.

      This one stalls too, I cannot sign it, since it is simply wrong:

      Not guilty is the outcome you obtain when you sit an all white female jury. Black youth have no where to turn for justice. It is amazing that the attorney’s could not find one Black American to sit on the jury.

      As far as I know juror 29 was and still is black. So there is no change.org petition to sign for me either.

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