July 15, 2013

Images of Protest: Rallying for Trayvon Martin Across the US

There was no mass violence in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal, but thousands took to the streets to peacefully vent their anger.

Trayvon Martin protests in Boston, Tampa, Fla., Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro US/Zumapress.com; Dirk Shadd/MCT/Zumapress.com; Ringo Chiu/Zumapress.com; Miguel Juarez Lugo/Zumapress.com

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Saturday’s verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial triggered waves of emotion, ranging from elation to despair, that rippled far beyond the confines of Sanford, Florida, where Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, last February. Zimmerman claimed self-defense in the closely watched, divisive trial, which ended Saturday evening with an acquittal.

Unfounded speculation that a not-guilty verdict would lead to riots and widespread violence was rampant in the week before the jury made its decision. The riot rumor-mongers were right about one thing: People were angry enough to take to the streets Sunday, but the protests, which occurred from coast to coast, were largely peaceful demonstrations of anger and disappointment.

Here are images from some of Sunday’s demonstrations:

Boston Trayvon Martin protest

Hundreds gather in Boston’s Dudley Square. Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro US/Zumapress.com
 
Sanford, Fla., Trayvon Martin protest

Two people lean on each other as a protest begins at Fort Mellon Park in Sanford, Florida. Jacob Langston/MCT (Zumapress.com)
 
Trayvon Martin protest albequerque

Reverend William Brown of Morning Star Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, speaks to a crowd at the city’s Civic Plaza. Around 200 people participated in the protest. Adolph Pierre-Louis/Albuquerque Journal/Zumapress.com
 
Los Angeles Trayvon Martin protest

A Los Angeles police officer watches a crowd of demonstrators. Thousands of Angelenos took to the streets in protest. Ringo Chiu/Zumapress.com
 
Trayvon Martin protest Washington, DC

Niciah Petrovic (center) and Joanna Cherry (right) comfort each other at a protest in Washington, DC. Miguel Juarez Lugo/Zumapress.com
 
Trayvon Martin protest Detroit

Demonstrators hold up a sign at they march down Washington Boulevard in Detroit. Courtney Sacco/Zumapress.com
 
Trayvon Martin protest Raleigh, N.C.

Emmanuel Thombs, 13, joins about 100 people at a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina. Travis Long/MCT/Zumapress.com
 
New York City Trayvon Martin protest

Protestors convene in New York City’s Union Square. Thousands took to the streets of the city in protest. Staton Rabin/Zumapress.com

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Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

Because the in-depth journalism on underreported beats and unique perspectives on the daily news you turn to Mother Jones for is only possible because readers fund us. Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism we exist to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we need readers to show up for us big time—again.

Getting just 10 percent of the people who care enough about our work to be reading this blurb to part with a few bucks would be utterly transformative for us, and that's very much what we need to keep charging hard in this financially uncertain, high-stakes year.

If you can right now, please support the journalism you get from Mother Jones with a donation at whatever amount works for you. And please do it now, before you move on to whatever you're about to do next and think maybe you'll get to it later, because every gift matters and we really need to see a strong response if we're going to raise the $253,000 we need in less than three weeks.

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