Marchers commemorating Martin Luther King’s historic speech with a memorial to Trayvon Martin at Crenshaw High School.
Tuesday August 27 2013- Crenshaw High School students, teachers, and politicians in South L.A. commemorated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech by having a school garden beautification and dedicating part of their school garden as a memorial to Trayvon Martin.
Martin was the 17-year-old from Sanford, Florida who was shot by neighborhood watch coordinator George Zimmerman in February of 2012.
Eighth District Councilmember Bernard Parks made a presentation on the Trayvon Martin Resolution passed by the Los Angeles City Council to pressure the federal government to investigate the Martin shooting. Representatives from LAPD’s South Bureau also spoke to students about how to stand up for their First Amendment Rights in a way that won’t end up in arrests.
Domonic Wilks, an alumni of Crenshaw High School, who graduated this past year and participated in the march, said that it’s important to have this memorial on his campus because a lot of Crenshaw students can relate to what happened to Martin.
“We feel that this is the civil rights movement as our generation. There hasn’t been something as big as this that has been televised and on the news, and so we want to show that this happens and we don’t want it to happen anymore,” said Wilks.
When 10 am came around students chanted “We are Trayvon Martin” and “I have a dream” as they marched around their school and onto community streets like Crenshaw Avenue. The LAPD provided support to make sure students remained safe during the march.
Speak Your Mind