Echoing President Obama, Dwyane Wade spoke personally as a parent about about the shooting death of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin. And shortly afterward, the Miami Heat sent a message as a team, posing in hoodies for a photo that LeBron James tweeted.
Wade also posted a photo of himself on Facebook in which he wears a hoodie with the message “#hoodies #stereotype #trayvonmartinmessage.” The shooting of Martin , 17, by a neighborhood-watch guard last month continues to resonate; George Zimmerman, the guard, claims he acted in self-defense and has not been charged. Martin was wearing a hoodie when he was killed.
“I'm a father,” Wade, who has two sons, said Friday (via the Sun Sentinel) in Detroit. “It's support of the tragic thing that has taken place. No matter what color, race, we're all fathers.
“When you think about what that family's going through, it hits you hard and it hurts your heart to think about it. Just anything you can do, obviously we can't bring him back, but anything you can do to get behind and support is what we're doing.”
The photo is not new, but Wade found a new use for it. “It's a picture that I've taken before. I thought it was great opportunity to use it,” Wade said. “I've never used it before, really. So that was a great opportunity to use it. Just to get the people to understand what we're in support of.”
Wade’s girlfriend, actress Gabrielle Union, spoke out earlier about the shooting and how the it was handled by police. “We discussed it,” Wade said. "I only start doing something when I find out more information on it. Early on, I didn't hear the [911] call, I didn't have a lot of information. So I wasn't going to just jump into it. She knew a lot early on about everything. That's why she was very vocal.”
#WeAreTrayvonMartin #Hoodies #Stereotyped #WeWantJustice campl.us/il4E
— LeBron James (@KingJames) March 23, 2012
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