‘Justice for Trayvon’ Vigil Brings Call to Action

by Megan Merrigan 

Calls of “no justice, no peace” sounded from the steps of the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack Wednesday as community members gathered to remember the life of Trayvon Martin.

The vigil was organized by the Bergen County chapter of the NAACP and was hosted by Anthony Cureton, the chapter’s president and an Englewood resident.

Although the vigil was in remembrance of Martin’s life, Cureton said the issue spans far beyond the death of the teen. George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was acquitted last month in the unarmed black teen’s killing and maintained he acted out of self defense.

“There needs to be a national debate on the racial profiling issue,” said Rep. Frank Pallone, who is running for a Senate seat.  “It also brings up the issue of gun violence and I think we need to address it.”

In addition to gun control and racial profiling, Cureton expressed his disappointment in voter turnout in the black community. He urged those in attendance to take a stand by not only registering to vote, but by casting ballots.

“What folks have fought for for many years we do not take advantage of,” Cureton said. “Put aside the color for now, let’s go find that voter’s box.”

“Each time you don’t vote the blood of Trayvon is on your hands,” he said.

Englewood resident Armon Sadler, 18, addressed the crowd wearing a Cornell hoodie to discuss how the not guilty verdict of the Zimmerman trial affects him as a young black male.

“It could have been me,” Sadler said.

“I felt feelings of anger, of disappointment, frustration…I couldn’t speak when I read (the verdict),” he said. “After accepting my initial feelings of anger, disappointment and frustration, I thought about it and I thought about what could have potentially been different.”

Sadler, a graduate of the Academies @ Englewood who will be attending Cornell University in the fall, said in order the counter the racial stereotypes they face, young black men need to make a change and show that they are different.

“We need to educate ourselves, we need to pull our pants up, we need to take ourselves seriously and show that we’re more than what people think we are,” Sadler said as the crowd clapped and cheered.

Pallone, County Executive Kathleen Donovan, members of the NAACP and nearly 100 Bergen County residents both young and old attended the vigil.

“As a mother of three boys I think it’s really important to take a stand,” Teaneck Board of Education trustee Gervonn Rice said. “It’s important that our community is aware of their rights and making sure they are vigilant.”