- President Barack Obama:
The death of Trayvon Martin was a tragedy. Not just for his family, or for any one community, but for America. I know this case has elicited strong passions. And in the wake of the verdict, I know those passions may be running even higher. But we are a nation of laws, and a jury has spoken. I now ask every American to respect the call for calm reflection from two parents who lost their young son.
- Beyoncé expressed her feelings by holding a moment of silence for Trayvon onstage in Nashville, before covering Whitney Houston‘s “I Will Always Love You.”
- Solange (who organized a peaceful rally at Brooklyn Borough Hall):
““I am optimistic. I am cynical. I’m angry. I’m in pain. I am motivated. I’m confused. I’m scared. I am sick of racism & want to do something about it.”
- Talib Kweli conducted an ongoing seminar on the issues around the case, at times seeming like he intended to respond to every apology for Zimmerman’s actions one by one, knocking down every platitude and justification with the simple clarity of the truth. It’s this comment that stays with us, though:
“Yesterday’s decision was sad. But today is made sadder by those celebrating Trayvon’s death or blaming him for his own demise. Ghouls.
Acting like racism will go away by ignoring it, pretending it doesn’t exist and refusing to discuss it is the trademark of a closet racist.”
- Common:
“Lets kiss and hug our babies a LiL tighter today. Aa a community, we must love and protect our babies!”
- Erykah Badu (before tweeting out the lyrics to her song “Soldier”):
“This world is in a constant state of Grieving.”
- Freddie Foxx:
“the feeling of unity comes & goes in our people like rainy days…even tho the sun is shining today.. it’s a rainy day.”
- Black Thought (quoting activist Huey P. Newton):
“The revolution has always been in the hands of the young. The young always inherit the revolution.”
- W. Kamau Bell:
“FYI, at this point I’d rather threats from Klan members rather than one white person “explaining” to me why this isn’t racism…no matter how low you set your expectations America can still find a way to disappoint you.”
- dream hampton:
“Our strength shouldn’t be measured by our ability to endure suffering.”
- Lester Chambers, founding member of 1960s recording artists, The Chambers Brothers, was attacked by a woman who jumped onstage shouting “it’s all your fault!” after he dedicated Curtis Mayfield‘s song “People Get Ready” to Trayvon at The Russell City Hayward Blues Festival. He is recovering fine, according to a facebook statement from his son.
- DJ Cosmo Baker:
“Stand your ground if you’re white and use a gun to do it, you go home. Stand your ground with your fists and you’re black, you’re dead.
Friends in Florida, I will no longer be doing shows there until the #StandYourGround law is repealed. Hope to see you soon, XO Cosmo.”
The Justice Department said Sunday that it would reopen its civil rights investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting, to consider possible separate hate crime charges against George Zimmerman.
- Eric Holder (speaking at a news conference in April 2012):
“We have to prove the highest standard in the law. Something that was reckless, that was negligent, does not meet that standard. We have to show that there was specific intent to do the crime with the requisite state of mind.”
- David Simon (creator of The Wire, Treme, Homicide, etc.):
“If I were a person of color in Florida, I would pick up a brick and start walking toward that courthouse in Sanford. Those that do not, those that hold the pain and betrayal inside and somehow manage to resist violence — these citizens are testament to a stoic tolerance that is more than the rest of us deserve. I confess, their patience and patriotism is well beyond my own.”
- Questlove (via twitter):
“psssh i got nothin to say. im friggin crying. internalizing all this on some cube/dre “hear’s what they think about u” ish.”
(and via facebook):
well….most of you read the book so that means you’re familiar with Rich by now. i just landed in the states and he was my first call. i was listening to msnbc on the radio, so this is the first time im getting real time reaction/news from an american source about the Martin case. im trying not to internalize this *feeling* and make it about *me*—but hey it is what it is, maybe i’m mellow dramatic—but all i’m consumed with is my positioning in life.
all the time i tell these cute self deprecating celeb run ins when i get a pie in the face moment. but rarely do i share stories of a more serious nature pie in the face moments.—-all i could keep saying was “thank god for my good fortune”—i can’t tell you how many times a year im in a serious situation only to hear the magic words “oh….wait…Questlove?—-hey guys its Questlove—we’re so sorry you can go”—mostly because in the age of social media most people are quick to dismiss my tales as #FirstWorldProblems—so unless its super major (did i ever FB the story of how the Buffalo DEA held me cause they thought i was a drug lord back in 2006?—multiply that scenario by a realistic 40—like 5-7 times a year a night ending in the words “thank god for that afro, we’d never have recognized you” happens to me.)
