For Trayvon Martin

Abstract

Continuing Laurel Richardson’s call to use writing as my method and specifically utilizing poetic inquiry, “For Trayvon Martin” represents my interpretation of this tragedy filtered through a lens shaped by an epistemology of color, the history of racism, and local and national news reports both in print and on-line, as well as informal conversations with a wide variety of family, friends, and colleagues. The work’s theoretical frame incorporates critical pedagogy, critical race theory, and imagination-intellect theory. This piece investigates the impact of racial profiling and a Stand your Ground law supposedly designed to protect Florida citizens who are instead falling victim to it.