A group of students came together last week to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin.
The candlelight vigil, held in the Social Justice Hub at the University Center, was organized in collaboration with the Social Justice Committee (SJC).
Nathaniel Phillips, a graduate student at Milano and a SJC member, said the event was planned in reaction to the Michael Dunn verdict. Dunn, a 47-year-old white man, was recently found not guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Jordan Davis, who, like Trayvon Martin, was an unarmed black teenager shot in Florida.
“We felt it was necessary that The New School responds in a public way to come together and express their grief, and sorrow, and whatever they are feeling,” Phillips told the Free Press.
Some students stood in a circle, holding candles and singing songs, to express the deep emotions that the anniversary conjured up, while tears ran down their cheeks. Others shared stories of how they had been victims of racism themselves, and talked about how the violence that caused Martin’s death still persists today.
Toward the end of the vigil, one student stood up and recited a poem he wrote on racism, ending with the lines: “All life matters, black life matters.”