Students at 34 Miami Schools Walk Out of Class for Trayvon Martin
Alan Diaz / AP
Students walked out of 34 Miami middle and high schools on Thursday and Friday, some chanting “Justice for Trayvon,” in a sign of solidarity with the 17-year-old black student who was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer last month in Sanford, Fla.
Protesters numbered more than 1,000 at some schools, others fewer than 100. Some teachers and principals gave their tacit approval.
Listen to why students are, and aren’t, walking out of class here on NPR.
The first walkout was at Carol City High School, where Trayvon Martin was a student last year. Hundreds of his old schoolmates walked out in the middle of the school day.
Nearly a month has passed since George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon, who was unarmed. But it wasn’t until this week that Trayvon’s high school said anything about his death to his fellow students.
That got Miami students talking and organizing.
Alana Coreus, a 12th-grader, says students aren’t worried about getting punished for walking out of class.
“Everyone feels like what they’re doing is right,” she says, “because everyone is walking around with their Skittles, their hoodies, and they feel like they’re making a stand.”
At the time of his death, Trayvon was carrying a bag of Skittles and wore the hood of his jacket over his head.
Will Students Be Disciplined for Walking-Out?
Miami-Dade County Public Schools superintendent Alberto Carvalho says each school will have to decide for itself whether to discipline students.
“Everyone is walking around with their Skittles, their hoodies, and they feel like they’re making a stand.”
-Alana Coreus, senior at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High
“I think we have demonstrated passion and compassion, understanding,” he says. “We don’t decree discipline from downtown.”
The superintendent also says Trayvon’s parent urged students to stay in class. Trayvon’s former classmates, like senior Mercury Duncan, are honoring that request.
“Walking out is not really doing anything, it’s not going to bring him back, not making his mom feel any way because she asked us not to walk out,” he says, “and what we’re doing, it could kind of comfort her.”
Students at Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High are writing letters to Trayvon and his family, creating what they call a “chain of life” around the school campus.
According to the school district, Trayvon’s death was not initially announced to his classmates because his parents asked for privacy. Internal school emails show the principal asked teachers to refrain from lengthy conversations about Trayvon.
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“I am pretty sure the school just really doesn’t want to have that much commotion in the school because then learning in that environment would be pretty hard,” she says.
Eventually, the school decided to do something. The principal called for a moment of silence more than three weeks after Trayvon’s death.
Frustrated by the delay, some students took to social media and began organizing the walkouts.
Their online activism continues. On Monday, Trayvon’s former classmates are planning to dress in black to mark the month that has passed since his death.
You can see the list of every Miami school who participated in the walk-outs here.
