Trayvon Martin represents the story of African-American families across America, which is why it's important not to forget his death, Chaedria LaBouvier writes at the Daily Kos.
Trayvon Martin on trial has been so deeply personal for me and my entire family in part because it is our story too. I thought about not writing it, to protect what little privacy we have left, but honestly, when these tragedies happen to you and they're in the news, you don't really have privacy in the traditional sense anymore because it's already out there. And perhaps my story can help someone else understand how this affects the Black families these tragedies happen to.
My little brother, Clinton Robexar (pronounced "Ro-bear") Allen was shot 7 times, unarmed, by Clark Staller, a police officer within the Dallas Police Department on March 10, 2013. He was 25.
This was literally our worst nightmare come true. My brother is Black, tall — 6'1'' and a former linebacker with tattoos. We feared those things not because my brother is or was a violent person, but because of how the wrong White person would perceive him, organize fear in his mind and the tragedy that might follow. They would not know that my brother's tattoos were the names of family members and a pink ribbon to commemorate our mother winning her fight against breast cancer. They wouldn't know that Clinton was the baby of the family and so absolutely lovable that everyone, from family members to schoolmates called him, "Big Baby". Speaking of babies, Clinton has two twin boys who are only 19 months old.
Read Chaedria LaBouvier's entire piece at the Daily Kos.
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