A photo of Martin Luther King Jr. wearing a hoodie is going viral on Twitter in the aftermath of the shocking George Zimmerman trial verdict.
Zimmerman never denied that he shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Florida. Instead he argued that he acted in self-defense when he spotted the teen, called 911, and then followed Martin to the location where they engaged in a fatal altercation.
A jury of six found George Zimmerman not guilty on Saturday, arousing widespread anger and disappointment.
For many people — and I will not disguise the fact that I’m one of them — the verdict seemed like a shocking miscarriage of justice that brought back many terrible memories of days that should have been left long in the past.
The new image called “April 4, 1968” was created by Nikkolas Smith of the Creative Action Network. You can visit his website to find out more, including how to buy or download a print. The date is, of course, the date the civil rights leader was assassinated.
Smith said of the Martin Luther King Jr. hoodie image:
“The Dream will never die. It is more powerful than fear or violence. It can never be swindled away or destroyed. It is one of Love, and therefore timeless.”
According to Social News Daily , former Obama advisor Van Jones was the first to tweet the image and to ask for retweets to share its message:
April 4th, 1968… #RipTrayvonMartin … Please RT to share this image. #MLK pic.twitter.com/ywAr1zMZAy
— Van Jones (@VanJones68) July 14, 2013
At the time of writing, Van Jones’ tweet had already been retweeted over 1,500 times. In addition, other posters had left other poignant tweets, like this one:
@VanJones68 powerful facebook post from a mom pic.twitter.com/U1Gcai2Wul
— rosierifka (@rosierifka) July 14, 2013
If nothing else, the community’s shared grief lets people know that they are not alone in their pain and anger. You can click on the embedded Martin Luther King Jr. hoodie tweet yourself if you would like to retweet it.
[Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington D.C. photo by Elaine Radford]