A High School Student's Perspective on Trayvon Martin

One of my 11th grade students at Boston Latin School writes a sports blog, and he recently posted an entry about a photo of the Miami Heat all wearing hoodies as a sign of support for Martin and his family. From the post:

I found that photo to be incredibly moving. Upon realizing all the symbolism that the photo possesses, and reflecting upon the information I had gathered about Trayvon’s story, I felt a wave of emotion crash over me. I felt pity for Trayvon, and heartbroken for his friends and family. I felt angry at George Zimmerman (Trayvon’s killer) for taking an innocent life. In fact, angry cannot even begin to describe the emotions I felt towards that man. It was a white hot twinge of pain that no word could ever come close to accurately describing. I felt scared, because I am roughly the same age as Trayvon, just a mere seventeen years old. It could just have easily been me. President Obama must have felt similarly because he said that if he “had a son he would look like Trayvon…”. I felt despair because despite the great strides we have made towards freedom and equality for all people, a few knuckleheads like Zimmerman are perpetually attempting to erase them. I felt an eerie sense of deja vu. Yet another young, black life taken by violence. But, most importantly, I felt grateful to the Miami Heat for having both the ingenuity and the guts to pull off such a thought provoking, tear-jerking tribute.

His whole post is linked here (with his permission)