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Youth group joins Florida activists to push for Trayvon’s Law
Philadelphia Public Schools' The Notebook ^ | The October 2013 Issue | Mark McHugh

Posted on 09/12/2013 2:21:55 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet

Youth United for Change members are used to rallying against injustices in public education. In July, group members took hold of a somewhat different cause when they traveled to Tallahassee, Fla., to protest alongside members of a Florida activist group against the controversial verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, and fight for passage of a package of bills called the Trayvon Martin Civil Rights Act.

Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch coordinator, was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter charges for the killing of the unarmed 17-year-old Martin.

The bills, also called Trayvon’s Law, were developed by the Dream Defenders, an organization with seven chapters throughout Florida that confronts systemic inequalities facing youth of color. They call for Gov. Rick Scott and the state legislature to repeal Florida’s controversial “stand-your-ground law,” ban racial profiling, and end the school-to-prison pipeline.

Twenty-five YUC members took part in the sit-in for three consecutive days inside the state Capitol building.

“It was a monumental experience,” said 19-year-old YUC member Tone Elliott, who is currently pursuing his GED through YESPhilly.

“I can say I did a freedom ride, for real.”

YUC member and Philadelphia High School for Girls senior Christa Rivera said, “We were all really upset at the verdict.”

Though there is no sign that Trayvon’s Law will be passed or even addressed by the state legislature, Rivera said any support that YUC and the Dream Defenders can get on this matter will help the cause in fighting for justice for all youth of color.

Since the Florida trip, YUC members have refocused their attention on the District’s crippling budget crisis, which has stripped schools of many critical services and programs. In August they joined members of the union UNITE HERE in a 12-hour fast in front of District headquarters to call on the District to restore the positions of school safety staff that had been laid off. They also participated in a massive march to protest the lack of school funding, and YUC members spoke at the rally.

As with the Florida sit-in, Elliott said the school funding march left an indelible mark on him.

“It felt like I was witnessing history.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; US: Florida; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: banglist; communityorganizers; filthydelphia; florida; guncontrol; philadelphia; secondamendment; standyourground; trayvon; zimmerman
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To: LibLieSlayer

Take the “be” out of that sentence. Still working on my first cup.


21 posted on 09/12/2013 4:14:29 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (FROM MY COLD, DEAD HANDS!)
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To: Netz
.


give them all some "purple skank" and they'll go away ...


.
22 posted on 09/12/2013 4:19:29 AM PDT by Patton@Bastogne (Swine Piss be upon the Sodmite Obama, and his Child-Rapist False Prophet Mohammed)
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To: All

So they want to be able to rob and beat people without fear of the vics fighting back or returning fire. Some of them might want to take Mooch’s advice and hit the treadmill or reduce their intake of skittles and lean.


23 posted on 09/12/2013 4:22:08 AM PDT by newnhdad (Our new motto: USA, it was fun while it lasted.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I take note that none of their protest signs are written in cursive.


24 posted on 09/12/2013 4:52:24 AM PDT by Towed_Jumper (What does it mean to be declared "guilty" in a nation without the rule of law?)
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To: SeminoleCounty

IMHO, they are outraged that the laws that support and protect George Zimmerman aren’t going to allow them to put an butt kicking on whitey any ol’ time they want.

Now there are real consequences, as Traygone found out...


25 posted on 09/12/2013 4:56:55 AM PDT by Molon Labbie (Prep. Now. Live Healthy, take your Shooting Iron daily.)
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To: Towed_Jumper

Who writes a protest sign in cursive, for goodness sakes?


26 posted on 09/12/2013 5:14:07 AM PDT by basil (2ASisters.org)
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To: Standing Wolf

Trayvon’s Law: “It is illegal for a white to strike back in any way, at any black, for any reason.”


27 posted on 09/12/2013 5:16:02 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage (Galileo: In science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of one individual)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

We muggers prefer, nay—DEMAND unarmed victims.


28 posted on 09/12/2013 5:27:47 AM PDT by Flintlock ("The redcoats are coming" -- TO SEIZE OUR GUNS!!--Paul Revere)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Who wants to bet that NONE of them has ever read the Bill of Rights?

Any takers?


29 posted on 09/12/2013 5:44:33 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Notice that they use a fist on their sign? A fist isn’t exactly peaceful now, is it?


30 posted on 09/12/2013 5:45:27 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Systemic inequalities? You mean like the NAACP, set asides and quotas for certain races, welfare, etc? Those systemic inequalities?

You want to end the school to prison pipeline here is a crazy idea. How about the kids actually have to work at getting an education, not just be advanced grade to grade automatically so that no thug will get left behind? Oh, and you can cut off the pipeline at the other end by simply having them STOP COMMITTING CRIMES. Because by and large, people who don't commit crimes don't go to prison.

You want to repeal stand your ground laws in TM's name? What a dumb idea. First SYG had nothing to do with TM Why don't you repeal speed limits in his name, about the same level of applicability and absurdity. Second, SYG laws are right and just, why repeal them? Why should anyone be required to retreat? To make the criminals job safer? It puts the victim at even more of a disadvantage. Why should I not defend my life and property? Why should I surrender property and risk my life merely because some punk asks, or threatens? What an absurd assertion.

31 posted on 09/12/2013 5:50:44 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Stop obarma now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: Red in Blue PA

Or read for that matter.


32 posted on 09/12/2013 5:52:27 AM PDT by bruoz
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To: bruoz

Touche!


33 posted on 09/12/2013 5:59:07 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: ThunderSleeps
Systemic inequalities? You mean like the NAACP, set asides and quotas for certain races, welfare, etc? Those systemic inequalities?

Or the fact that they are accepting into colleges with LOWER test scores?
34 posted on 09/12/2013 5:59:53 AM PDT by Red in Blue PA (When Injustice becomes Law, Resistance Becomes Duty.-Thomas Jefferson)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This is how the elite movement is engineering the youth to hold the ideas of “Constitutional Democracy” where the GROUP has rights, not the INDIVIDUAL.

That is the fundamental transformation the progressives seek. Power to group- rule by mob, bullying, and loss of private rights.

Progressives hate America as much as the ME terrorist.


35 posted on 09/12/2013 6:02:07 AM PDT by Truth2012
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To: All

Trayvon Martin was nothing but a thug and a hoodlum and should have been tried in absentia for assault and battery.

Imagine the howls that would have created...

The media still won’t tell the truth about this thug and they still show the pic of him when he was 12-years old.


36 posted on 09/12/2013 7:32:52 AM PDT by Rodney Dangerfield (Ask the MSM about Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian. Observe the subsequent blank stares.)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“It felt like I was witnessing history.”


Nope. Just engaging in feel-good, mental masturbation.


37 posted on 09/12/2013 7:35:06 AM PDT by Rodney Dangerfield (Ask the MSM about Christopher Newsom and Channon Christian. Observe the subsequent blank stares.)
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To: Dr. Bogus Pachysandra

Some of those people could do with a fast.


38 posted on 09/12/2013 3:59:53 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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