Trayvon Martin
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The National Action Network’s annual convention is under way this week in New York, featuring dozens of panel discussions tackling civil rights topics from voter repression to stop-and-frisk laws, as well as planned remarks by President Obama.
The event’s primary goal, founder and president Al Sharpton told The Root, is to create an “action agenda” for the upcoming midterm elections.
Get the latest updates and highlights from the NAN event here.
Thursday April 10, 5:20 p.m.: What Will It Take for America to See Black Boys as Human?
“I feel that our young black boys don’t feel that they’re human. They don’t feel love. I’ve met many black men who’ve never had another black man look them in the face to say, ‘I love you.’ And if you don’t feel human, how do you treat somebody on the street?” television personality A.J. Calloway asked at a Thursday NAN convention panel titled, “Are You My Brother’s Keeper? A Discussion on Fatherhood and Mentorship.”
“And if George Zimmerman saw Trayvon as a human, he would possibly still be alive,” said Calloway, who announced plans to launch a program designed to humanize black men and boys in the American imagination.
In an emotional panel discussion, marked by fiery speeches and standing ovations, Calloway and other speakers—including Trayvon’s father, Tracy Martin—enumerated the ways in which they say American society undervalues and demonizes black men, pointing to deep-seated white supremacy and stereotypes that permeate everything from education to criminal justice.
“I can’t be mad at the system because the system wasn’t designed to protect us,” said Martin. “I honestly believe that this country was built on the backs of African-American men, and we as African-American men need to stand up and claim our rights in this country.” He urged the audience to treat the young men in their communities with respect from the time they were old enough to talk.
“They don’t like Richard Sherman, and they don’t like Barack Obama,” said Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson, who argued, “In every moment, black masculinity is under the scrutiny of an unjust society.” He took the African-American community to task for “smuggling in that white supremacy and internalizing the self-hatred that white supremacy purchases.”
Source: The Root | JENÉE DESMOND-HARRIS
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