WHY IS THAT?

:: PICTURED BELOW, 2 DEAD YOUNG BLACK MEN ::
:: MURDERED NOT 10 DAYS AGO ::
:: I'LL BET YOU DON'T KNOW THEIR NAMES ::
:: WHY IS THAT? ::

For seemingly no real reason other than the color of my skin, lots of people are wanting my thoughts & reaction to the Zimmerman trial/aquittal. Fine. But you're not going to get what you're looking for.

First of all, I didn't follow the case with laser intensity. I didn't for a number of reasons. First, the Florida legal system & trials within it has precious little affect on me & my family. This was being tried in a court in Florida; I don't follow murder trials in all 50 states. Second, I had nor have any desire to feed into the manic media frenzy that this trial unnecessarily became.

As for the trial itself, in my humble opinion those "prosecutors" need to be relieved of duty. That was the most bumbling, inept, stab at a prosecution to have been aired on national tv in a very long time. Granted, its hard to make a case when you have no evidence, but still, their 'witnesses' were better witnesses for the defense! They made no case at all and essentially made it an easy decision for the jury.

Inevitable comparisons are circulating to the O.J. Simpson trial. The reading of the O.J. verdict is one of those events you use to tell time. Like the space shuttle explosion, JFK's assassination, the twin towers being hit. You remember where you were, what you were doing. I remember quite clearly being gathered in the break room with co-workers at our office in South San Francisco when the verdict was read. And I remember the emotion in the room. For the most part it was white people angry, black people relieved.

The O.J. verdict is a very appropriate precedent and highly relevant for the Zimmerman verdict. Here's why:

Though in my soul, somewhere down in my knower, I think O.J. did it - that he did kill Nicole and Ron - the verdict was the correct one. The jury in the O.J. trial was not asked to rule on whether or not O.J. committed double murder. They were asked to rule on whether or not there was the existence of a reasonable doubt O.J. committed double murder. And the answer to that question was without question, 'yes'. Yes, a reasonable doubt existed. The O.J. defense team --(dis?)affectionately dubbed the "Dream Team"-- did an excellent job of raising several factors that would cause a reasonable person to have reasonable doubts about his absolute guilt of the charges brought against him.

Similar story for the Zimmerman jury. Emotion removed. "National dialog" about race aside. There simply was not a compelling enough case presented by the prosecution, was no preponderance of evidence to lead the jury into a "guilty of murder" verdict.

But that's not even what I get down on, frankly. Here is, in my opinion, where the rubber and the road come together:

Trayvon's death is without question tragic. There's nothing entertaining about it & one can't help but to feel for his family, no parent should have to bury a child. That's just not the way it's supposed to play out. However the fact stands that where it not for the president deciding to open his yap this wouldn't have even been a national news story. That in turn is true because the real fact of the matter is that white-on-black assault/murder is NOT an epidemic in this nation. (And the guy isn't even white, for cry'n out loud.) Black-on-black IS.

When it comes to murder; the most dangerous thing in this country for a young black man, is another young black man. It happens DAILY, this Zimmerman thing is more like a once-a-decade deal. I refuse to remain silent on things like Chicago Independence Day weekend, yet jump on the bandwagon that this media-fueled trial has became, just because everyone else is.

Prior to the verdict being read the "New Black Panthers" made no secret of what they wanted to do should the verdict the in the Zimmerman trial not be to their liking. They were calling for riots, shootings, burnings, etc. And other groups actually stood up Facebook pages calling for riots and violent civil unrest. And these pages attracted thousands and thousands of "Likes".

Well, last weekend (Independence Day weekend) shootings in Chicago claimed twelve lives. Twelve. Not one. Twelve. Young black men, gunned down in their prime of life. No New Black Panthers claiming "its time to riot". No Jesse. No Al. No MSNBC. It somehow not even newsworthy.

The photograph is graphic -sorry about that- but its also reality. That is an actual police photo of victims of shootings in Chicago just a few days ago. We need to stop pretending this isn't real, isn't happening, isn't everyday life in neighborhoods across our country.

A young man running into an over-zealous neighborhood watch participant packing heat is an aberration. A young black man bleeding out as a result of being shot or stabbed by another is common place, relatively speaking.

Trayvon Martin's death was a tragic loss of life, to be sure. Yet there can be no question that it happened under circumstances about which no one can be certain. However of this much we can be certain - there was some element of self-defense involved. Zimmerman's nose was busted, his head gashed open,...the man had clearly been in a tussle. Several of the dead in Chicago were a result of drive-by shootings. There is no issue of self-defense in a drive-by. You're standing there, some guys pull up and open fire. You're not trying to defend yourself, you're a sitting duck.

Yet the Zimmerman show gets all the media attention & draws all the protests. Why? I'll tell you why. I'll say it. Because in Chicago what we had is black-on-black crime. There's no sex appeal in that. There's no dollars there. These snake-oil sell'n, one-trick-pony, racial-hatred-inciting hucksters have no idea how much more harm than good they are doing our entire nation...ESPECIALLY predominantly black communities.