CLEVELAND,Ohio-Leaders of the Cleveland NAACP, the Cleveland Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Black Women's Political Action Committee and the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network greater Cleveland Chapter will rally today (March 25) at 6 pm at Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church in Cleveland, 1161 E. 105th St, in support of murdered unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin (pictured).
And community groups will join Black on Black Crime, The Imperial Women Coalition, the Carl Stokes Brigade, Peace in the Hood, Occupy Cleveland, activist college groups and any other pro-Democratic organizations for a mass protest 4 pm March, 3o at the Southwest Quadrant at Public Square in Cleveland from 4-6 pm. (Editor's note: Plans for a march to the Justice Center have changed and the march will be around Public Square).
Trayvon Martin
The contact for today's rally is the Rev. E. Thephilus Caviness, senior pastor at Greater Abyssinia Baptist Church, telephone number 216-795-1842.
"The Cleveland NAACP, the Cleveland Chapter of SCLC, the Greater Cleveland National Action Network and the Black Women's Political Action Committee will hold a community rally at 6 pm today at Greater Abyssinia to address the Trayvon Martin issue,"said Caviness, who leads SCLC and is also the chair of the Greater Cleveland Chapter of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, a group with SCLC Board Member Marcia McCoy as its president.
Marcia McCoy, president of the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, greater Cleveland chapter
The Cleveland Chapter of the NAACP is lead by president George Forbes and Arlene Anderson is its executive director. And state Rep. Barbara Boyd (D-9) , a Cleveland Hts. Democrat, leads the Black Women's Political Action Committee.
Cleveland NAACP President George Forbes
Arlene Anderson, Interim Director of the Cleveland NAACP
Caviness said that Martin's killer, George Zimmerman, should be "summarily charged, arrested and forced to face a dully impaneled jury of his peers."
He said that Cleveland area Civil Rights leaders have joined Sharpton in demanding that the Florida State Legislature abolish the Stand Your Ground legislation that permits self defense killings, though he added that Martin's case is not applicable and that because the statute is seemingly confusing when Blacks are gunned down and due to the unjust nature of the statute, it should be "obliterated."
A seventeen-year old teen with no criminal record, Martin was fatally shot Feb. 26 while walking to the house of his father's fiancee in Sanford, Fl, after leaving a convenience store.
Zimmerman, a White neighborhood watch leader whom police have not charged, said he shot the unarmed teen in self-defense, though he followed him and gunned him down, community activists say.
The teen's murder has sparked nationwide protests with reminders of the unconstitutional and statutory infractions that Black men and boys across America often face on a routine basis in a racist society where they are deemed guilty walking, talking, eating and speaking, and just for being Black.
Sharpton, who has led protest in Florida, and national NAACP President Ben Jealous are calling the Trayvon Martin case racist and a travesty of justice. They want Zimmerman charged in Martin's murder like many Blacks and Civil Rights and grassroots leaders and organizations across America, including the New Black Panther Party.
Caviness said that his organizations support a mass protest with local Civil Rights organizations, grassroots groups, college students and anybody else passionate about the matter.
For information on the Sat., March 31 noon rally at the Justice Center contact Black on Black Crime founder Art McKoy at 215-253-4070.
Community Activist and Cleveland NAACP Vice President Dr. Eugene Jordan speaks during an event for the African American Cultural Gardens in Cleveland
Reach Kathy Wray Coleman by email at kathy@kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, and by telephone at 216-932-3114.
