We are Trayvon Martin.
We are products of a dream deferred. We are witnesses to a dream damaged and destroyed. We are Florida and Alabama. We are diverse: students, alumni, black, brown, and white, young and old. We are dedicated to defending the dream etched in our memories by Dr. Martin Luther King: that we are all created equal and possess equal rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We are a generation of world changers, writers, readers, rebels, marchers, dreamers, leaders, thinkers, organizers and activists. We are aware and we are angry. This revolution cannot be reposted or retweeted. Our legacy will be defined by decisive action.
It is up to us to help the nation realize a very inconvenient truth: that today, fifty years after the Civil Rights Movement, people of color are still considered public enemy #1 by Law Enforcement. Our enforcement agencies are ruled by a doctrine rooted in racism. People of color are being incarcerated, profiled, and deported at record numbers and race relations have deteriorated to levels far below what the media has reported. The cold-blooded murder of Trayvon Martin in Sanford, FL is just the latest in a pattern of profiling, imprisonment, and killing of people of color in Florida and across the country. He is not the first victim of our refusal to acknowledge a very real race crisis in America. His death will not be in vain. This can no longer be considered “business as usual.” How many occupancies, marches and rallies will it take for us to realize that we are being systematically eliminated? How long will you watch it on CNN? When will we do something about it?
We are issuing a call to action to the youth and students of Florida, the United States and the World. We must make our mark in the pages of history. We must return to the days of old when youth and students came together, built organizations, and directly challenged the power structures that have oppressed our communities.. Our future depends on it. Our time is now, as it was for the youth that fought for civil rights just a few short decades ago. How many of our black & brown youth have to die? The torch is ours. The time is now.
April 4th: DREAM BOOTCAMP: On the day that Martin Luther King was assassinated we will honor his legacy and learn from those who came before us by calling for teach-ins on Trayvon Martin, race, and non-violent civil disobediance.
April 6th: MARCH FOR THE DREAM: We will meet in Daytona, Fl, and like those students who helped lead the march from Selma to Montgomery we will march 3 days from Daytona, FL to Sanford, FL as we demand justice for Trayvon and an end to the Jim Crow system still alive in Florida.
April 9th: DEFEND THE DREAM: We will converge on Sanford, FL and engage in a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. We encourage those who cannot make it to Sanford, to walk out, strike, sit-in and let those in power know that the people have risen to break apart the chains that have held down so many of us for so long.
The American Spring is upon us. With the Civil Rights movement as our compass, we must use every tool in our arsenal to destroy the “good old boy” institutions that perpetuate the destruction of our communities. Throughout history, young people have always been the agents of change. Our day is here. We must defend the dream, or it will die.
-The Dream Defenders
Copyright 2012
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