HOUSTON- Bro.Deric Muhammad; Deloyd Parker, SHAPE Center Executive Director; Kofi Taharka, NBUF National Chairman and many others, recently convened at the S.H.A.P.E. Community Center in the name of justice for 17 year-old Trayvon Martin.

Bro. Deric Muhammad released this statement, “When the Sanford Police Department allowed George Zimmerman to go home without arresting him on the night that he murdered Trayvon Martin, they had no clue that the face of this 17 year-old would soon be on the cover of every major news publication in America. They had no idea that the young Black male that they viewed as “just another ni**a” would bring the city of Sanford, Florida to the attention of everybody from college students to the President of the United States of America. This should be a lesson for us all to be careful how we handle the least of God’s people. The death of Trayvon Martin exposes the disrespect for Black life in America. And if we as a people want Black life to be respected, we must first and foremost respect Black lives ourselves. We are proud to say that the city of Houston has joined the fight for justice for Trayvon. At the same time this energy must be transformed into the stoppage of Black on Black murder against one other. Let us, in the name of Trayvon Martin and countless others that have died senselessly, pledge to develop new found respect for Black life. When we, as a people, begin to respect Black life the world around us will have no choice except to follow our example.

National Black United Front (NBUF) National Chairman Kofi Taharka said in a letter to Trayvon’s parents, “The Officers and Members of The National Black United Front (NBUF) extend a clinched Black fist of solidarity with the family of Trayvon Martin in your call to bring to justice the murderer of your son. We stand in solidarity with freedom and justice loving people across the country who are rising up to demand an end to the senseless violence against young African/Black men and boys. Unfortunately, the murder of Trayvon is not an isolated case. It is rooted in the Global System of White Supremacy which is systematic and historical in nature. The list of young African/Black men and boys who have suffered similar fates is too long to recite. The tragedy of internal violence in our communities finds its origin in the same system. This is not an either or question, it is an and/both challenge.

In order to change this situation we must shake the foundation of this nation!”