An eye-grabbing mural showing a picture of a man shooting a likeness of Trayvon Martin was unveiled Friday at the state Capitol.
The message of the 100-foot mural, created by Miami artist Huong, is "We are all Trayvon Martin."
The mural shows a man who looks similar to George Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch leader who shot and killed Martin in February 2012 and was later acquitted in the teen's death, shooting a person wearing a hoodie. There's a mirror in the mural where Martin's face would be so visitors can see themselves as the teen.
The mural also contains blank spaces where the public can share their thoughts, and it also shows a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. with blood flowing down his head.
I think my opinion of the George Zimmerman's acquittal has been well documented, but I am not sure how I feel about this.
What do you all think?
I think it is a very appropriate mural to have in FL.
ReplyDeleteI don't see how anyone could object. Zimmerman was found innocent. Everyone knows that. So it's not libelous. It's art.
ReplyDeleteIvyfree
Zimmerman was not found innocent. The verdict "not guilty," unfortunately, means that the jury did not find that the prosecution had presented the findings of the case "beyond a reasonable doubt."
DeleteGeorge Z. is as "innocent" of murder or manslaughter as O.J. was found.
Unfortunately.
That is a distinction with no difference. Zimmerman admitted to killing Trayvon, but was, under Florida law, justified. He was therefore innocent of committing a crime.
DeleteThe fact that large numbers of people, including me, disagree with that makes no difference. The court jury declared that no crime was committed... meaning he's officially innocent. Responsible, but innocent of a crime.
And my point is that because of this, Zimmerman should have no objection to this depiction.
Ivyfree
I think the purpose of art is to help us examine things in life to which we might not give the attention they deserve. If we are lucky, works of art are permanent although our memories are not. This is a very appropriate work of art.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Its purpose is exactly that of the train car in the Holocaust Museum. it allows the viewer to "picture themselves in the victims place. Brilliant!
DeleteZimmerman got away with murder. I believe that Floridians need to be reminded of that through every means possible including this art installation. Sometimes the truth is painful to see but we need to be cognizant of the "new racism" and how America has been backsliding into the abyss of the pre-civil rights era.
ReplyDeleteThis times a thousand, 10:39 AM!
DeleteI think the article has their measurements wrong. There is no way this mural is 100 feet long. If that mural is 100 feet long, the mirror is going to be 20+ feet off the ground. I think the mural is more along the lines of 10 to 12 feet. Look at the door frames in the background. I wonder if the reporter even saw the mural in person. Sigh.... journalism fail.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking.
DeleteI think someone hit one too many zeroes.
First amendment. Art if free speech.
ReplyDeleteAn artist creates art to touch emotions, good or bad. If you are indifferent to the art, then it has not done it's job.
Some comments from the article:
ReplyDelete"What kind of name is Huong any ways ?? The name of someone that will be on the boat back home if I was in charge !!"
"ahhh George, thank God your a good shot, one less is a good thing!"
"Someone throw some dog pooh on this horrible artwork, that way it will represent trayvon for what he was, a lowlife piece of excrement."
"Hey, be positive about this waste of time and paint, look at it as though it were an.......... INSTRUCTION MANUAL."
"From what I've seen so far, Zimmerman is one of the most upstanding persons I've ever seen. But I do wish he'd start suing the you know what out of all those who have slandered him."
"Great day in history. One less oxygen-thief punk polluting the face of the earth."
"I guess anything can be called art. What's next, a painting of an un-flushed toilet hanging in the White House?
- You're a genius! That would depict the White House to a tee.
- - No, that would depict an accurate picture of the White House current residents!"
Nope, racism no longer exists in this country.
Sigh...
I keep finding reasons to support my long-standing boycott of the state of Florida.
DeleteBeaglemom
Hmmm, time to start mailing all these examples of racism to SCOTUS, Attention: John Roberts, no?
DeletePlz freedom of speech has nothing to do with a mural. Gmafb!
ReplyDeleteI love it ! Florida will never live it down. Say bye-bye tourist state.
Yes, it's art and it should be covered under the first amendment. However, do you think that the first amendment is going to stop Z from trying to sue?
ReplyDeleteIf he wins, it will mean money in his pocket! if he doesn't, it will have cost the sponsor and the artist money to defend against the suit.
For a taste of racism American style, read the comments on the original article. "Carver was a man of science and learning, a gentleman, and a true American role model for children of ALL ethnic backgrounds. Trayvon Martin was a waste of human tissue ... the thug got his justice that night." "travon was a loser, and his mom is a fraud. she did not even know travon. this whole thing is a scam. zimmerman should have never been dragged in front of a kangaroo court." so sad
ReplyDeleteBecause it is in a public building, I would hope that there is a balance to that. However, I'm not sure what a balance would be. It is just shocking that there is any violence.
ReplyDeleteWtf?
Deleteeclecticsandra, I'm sure the 10 Commandments part about Thou Shalt Not Kill should cover that 'balance.' Right?
DeleteThat is not art, it is pornography, aimed at the basest of human instincts.
ReplyDeleteYou must be a lot of fun at parties omomma. Did you get your Art Appreciation degree at Liberty U?
DeleteI'm surprised it's in the Florida Statehouse. I men, an old labor mural got taken down in where..MA? Personally, I'm for it staying up.
ReplyDeleteWhy isn't any of Trayvon's history coming out? There is a special class we have to take, when inner city kids are bussed in to outlying schools, and they center around the thinking of these kids. The main one is that you DON'T look these kids in the eye. It is seen as a challenge, and they WILL BEAT YOU UP!!! I have SEEN it happen!!!
ReplyDeleteWith this info, WHY would I think that Zimmerman jumped Martin? I don't doubt that Martin thought that Zimmerman was following him (he was, after all), and was going to teach this fool a lesson. Why is it so hard to think that an inner city 17 year old young man (child if you prefer), wouldn't jump someone he thought was following him for who knows why?
You stooopid excuse for a human, who shouldn't be anywhere near kids - I'm a fifty y o white woman, who would have a problem with someone following me and who would (yes, I have the physical strength and the training) to turn and confront a follower, just as Trayvon did.
DeleteAnd it doesn't matter what anyone's past is, not even if it is the cops - what matters is their actions THAT DAY at that moment. And Trayvon's were perfectly innocent - buying Skittle, drinking tea, talking on the phone and walking.
it is a totally stupid mural. not to mention inaccurate and a lie.
ReplyDeletethere are plenty of actual real documented cases of true horrific racial crime. this is not one of them.
this is about two idiots that crossed paths and one ended up dead...and then al sharpton showed up.
there will never be a civil trial as trayvon's true character as a troubled, violent full grown young man will of course be disclosed, instead the parents will just cash in on all the foundations.
No, this is about a young boy visiting his father and going to the store for iced tea and candy who's gunned down by a drug-addicted, mentally-ill wannabe.
DeleteHow was Treyvon an idiot? He was a free American walking his father's neighborhood after participating in a capital exchange for goods. You are an asshole Anon @ 2:58
DeleteAlthough I appreciate the artist's right to express themselves visually, I don't see how it'll cause anyone to change their minds one way or the other. I have to accept the verdict but I don't have to agree with it. Will the mirror image magically give the gun fetishists empathy? I doubt it. Will they magically connect the image of MLK Jr's Dream Speech? Nope.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the comments on the linked site, I can only imagine what's being written in the blank spaces.
The only thing this trial taught me is that Zimmerman got a jury of his peers.
I would say that it taught me that the U.S. is devolving (Jack London was right). Going back to a time when the innocent person in a crime was the one who survived. And that Florida is a cracker state that writes laws to allow open season on the youth and minorities. I will not go to Florida (bye, bye tourist $$$) until it changes.
Deletefairly sure florida is going to do just fine without your tourist $$, and also fairly sure that the laws do not allow open season on youth and minorities.
DeleteIt goes to show that if you repeat something often enough, it becomes true. . .Zimmerman was NOT the "neighborhood watch leader," he was a nosy racist that liked to hassle black people in his neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteTrayvon Martin was shot in the chest; the bullet trajectory went straight through. It was not a gunshot that went off during a struggle. There was no forensic evidence on Trayvon's body or on his clothing that indicated a physical struggle with his stalker. I think that he turned around finally to confront Zimmerman who panicked and pulled the trigger. The "injuries" visible on Zimmerman's body were part of a cover up. Had he really had his head struck on concrete repeatedly he would have been carted off to the hospital to determine if he had any brain injury. And his father, who was summoned to the scene (interesting isn't it?) by the police would have wanted a hospital record to document how his son had suffered and been forced to act defensively. The crime scene was badly mismanaged by the local police in the immediate aftermath; anyone who watches modern police thrillers (we really liked "The Closer") knows that Zimmerman's phone would have been taken right away and the area cordoned off, covered to protect it from the rain and combed through by forensic experts right away. Trayvon's body and clothing tell the real tale and that tale was not fully told at the trial. My only conclusion about that is that the prosecution did not want to do a very good job. And that says a lot about Florida. Even as a white person, I would never feel safe there so it remains on my no-visit list where it has already been for many years.
ReplyDeletePS I followed the case closely on Malia Litman's blog.
Beaglemom
First: 5:46am... the history DOES matter. If you have someone that is known for targetting women, it goes to the likely hood of them continuing. The FBI researched Zimmerman's background, and found no history of racism, that is why this wasn't a hate crime. Second, if there was a history in Martins past of robbery, or anger issues, or of trying to uphold the persona of being a 'tough guy', then it gives an idea that maybe Martin could have attacked, and escalated the situation.
ReplyDeleteBeagle mom, I hold less store in reading an accounting of someone else's view on what's happening with a case, than watching it myself. Also, an eyewitness reports that one of them was on top of the other, yet there was NO evidence of a struggle? Right there, with that contradiction, your entire statement is suspect! Someone fed you some kool-aid!
There was no forensic evidence on Trayvon Martin's hands that he had been involved in a struggle. There was no forensic evidence on his clothing either. The bullet trajectory is fact, not fiction.
DeleteBeaglemom
9:08 am. im glad there are still people around this blog that can think for themselves...
Deletethis kind of explains it all:
"PS I followed the case closely on Malia Litman's blog. Beaglemom"
getting all her info on Malia Litmans blog.....
Anonymous 5:46 - If it doesn't matter about someone's past, let a pedophile move into your house, and let your children, grandchildren, or neighbor kids to come over and stay while you go on vacation. How "stooopid" are you?!?
ReplyDeleteBeagle mom you originally stated no forensic evidence on body or clothing, an I repeat: Witness reports state that one of them was on top of the other. Obviously a struggle occurred. He would have defensive wounds on his body if he was under. Common sense says that Martin would have been on top, without trying to fend off an attack, but attacking. Keep enjoying the Kool-aid.
ReplyDelete