On Sunday, Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, senior pastor of Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, greeted more than 2500 congregants at the 11 a.m. service in a hoodie -- a Morehouse College hoodie to be exact -- worn with gray dress pants.
It was a show of support for Trayvon Martin, the black 17-year-old who was killed on Feb. 26 while returning from a convenience store to a gated community in Sanford, Fla.
Warnock and his congregation joined churchgoers and demonstrators nationwide on Sunday as sermons, prayer vigils and marches continued in protest of what is believed to be a case of racial profiling.
Martin was wearing a hoodie, the term used for the popular hooded sweatshirts, when he was shot and killed by George Zimmerman last month. Police said Martin was unarmed -- carrying a bag of candy and iced tea -- as he returned to the community where his father was staying. Zimmerman claims he was acting in self-defense and has not been charged in the case.
Churches in Atlanta and New York joined demonstrators in Florida, Illinois and other states to protest how the case has been handled.
Attendees of the 10 a.m. service at Greater Works Assembly Church were encouraged to wear hoodies to dramatize the killing of Martin, while Warnock proclaimed it "Hoodie Sunday" and encouraged churchgoers of all ages to wear hoodies to the service.
"As the church of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the church of non-violent struggle on behalf of justice, we thought it important for us to say that a hoodie is not weapon," Warnock told the AJC on Sunday afternoon. "We stand today in solidarity with the Martin family and in support of our young people who deserve better than to be stigmatized and stereotyped. The message of the Martin case is that bigotry is dangerous and even deadly."
In his sermon, Warnock compared Trayvon Martin to Emmett Till, the Chicago teen who was lynched in Money, Miss. in 1955. Both young boys were killed for crossing some imaginary social line, Warnock said. "Mr. Zimmerman took a gun to a Skittles fight. Apparently Zimmerman is innocent until proven guilty and Trayvon is guilty until proven innocent."
He said he hoped the incident would become a teachable moment for the entire nation.
"As law abiding citizens, we expect that the police and the criminal justice system will operate in a fair manner and so far that has not been the case," said Warnock. "Why not arrest Mr. Zimmerman and allow the wheels of justice to go through their process? Then we would have to be satisfied with the outcome. But without an arrest, the process itself is arrested. That is why you see such an outpouring on the streets of America."
Donald Hector, 40, of Ellenwood, a member of Ebenezer, was pleased that his church recognized the injustice of Martin's death. "I have been following the case in the media," said Hector, who was wearing a black and gold Pittsburgh Steelers hoodie. The father of four sons ages 21, 19, 9 and 8 said he worries about their safety in light of the Martin incident and given how young black men are sometimes viewed.
Warnock said he was disappointed that white faith communities in Atlanta have not been more vocal about the case. "Where are the white pastors who would stand with us and say that this is wrong?" Warnock said. "It is important that people continue to put on the pressure and say to our government that this matters to freedom loving people, not just black people, and that we expect the American system of jurisprudence to be fair to everybody."
Keon McIntosh, a junior at Lakeside High School in DeKalb County, attended the service wearing a Hampton University hoodie. “It’s unfortunate there’s a stereotype against black teens and how they dress...People are judged by how they look and not what’s inside,” said McIntosh, a member of the church youth group.
Warnock encouraged young people not to become cynical as a result of what has happened to Martin and suggested that a hoodie could be the source of a different type of intimidation. "If you really want to frighten somebody," Warnock said, "put on a hoodie from a college you graduated from."
It is important to channel anger over the incident in a constructive and non-violent way, he said. "I am angry that Trayvon Martin is dead," Warnock said. "I am angry that the admitted killer has not been arrested. I am angry they we have to protest just to get the basic assumptions of justice-making to work for black people in America in 2012."
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