A former 17-year old, self-described thug...bemoans the Trayvon Martin killing (from FB of course)

[Horse with no Name]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151777946512464&set=a.10151178665787464.502263.266185757463&type=1&theater
<a href=".html" target="_blank"><img src="" border="0" alt=" photo 17thug_zpsd1450c94.jpg"/></a>
From The Wall Of Mr. Corey Shy:
I am Trayvon Martin..
The picture on the left was taken when I was 17 years old, had just graduated from high school, and really didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. Based on my appearance in this picture, you probably would have labeled me a thug or a trouble maker. I only graduated in the top 50% of my class and I took my ACT 4 times. A promising future in college doesn't look too well... at this point does it?

But at age 17 (Trayvon's age when murdered), I didn't realize how much I would be judged and stereotyped for the clothes I wore and my physical appearance. Two months after that picture on the left was taken, I entered college and quickly realized that I wasn't pushing myself to be the best I can be. I hardly studied in high school but as as freshman in college I began to study daily. As a matter of fact, I did so well that I was able to participate in a summer medical internship at Yale University. I then went on to graduate from Prairie View A&M University Magna Cum Laude and in two weeks I will be attending Texas A&M Health Science College of Medicine to become a medical doctor.

The picture on the right is where I am now just four years later at the age of 21. The reason I am sharing this with you is because I COULD HAVE BEEN TRAYVON MARTIN!!! The defense team could have gone onto the internet and found pictures of me that were similar to Trayvon's pictures and characterized me as a thug. They would have then portrayed me as the aggressor and as a result it lead to my death. If that would have happened, then I would not have had the opportunity to reach my true calling, which is a medical doctor. My White Coat ceremony is in four days and it marks the next step in my journey. I could have been laying in a casket with a black suit, instead of being in a white coat trying to save lives.

When I was 17, no one would have imagined that I would be doing so well and on my way to medical school. Who is to say that could not have happened to Trayvon Martin if he was still alive? He could have been the next doctor, lawyer, engineer, teacher ,etc.

My prayers go out to his family and friends.

Please share my story so people can be more conscious of their racial profiling. Everyone has the potential, as long as they are alive, to achieve greatness and make a positive impact on this world.

[JNelson6563]

1. Wow! Powerful stuff!

This needs to be posted far and wide!

Julie

[SleeplessinSoCal]

24. Can't find the link to his page on facebook

Anybody have it? The link here is to "Urban Livin".

Finally found it: https://www.facebook.com/corey.shy?fref=browse_search

[Horse with no Name]

29. Thanks! n/t

[monmouth3]

2. Gave me a chill and a lump in the throat. Beautiful..

[uponit7771]

3. +1

[gabeana]

4. great great story

inspirational

[Half-Century Man]

5. Do well young man

I first titled this post with the first part of the Hippocratic oath, "Do no harm". I removed it, not because I thought it was a poor choice or because you might not get that I was encouraging you to really mean your oath. I think you'll do well in the future based on your past.

I just realized that Do no harm should be part of the oath of office for District Attorneys and Judges.

[raging moderate]

6. Airplanes.

I read somewhere that Trayvon Martin was interested in airplanes.

[LittleGirl]

7. thank you for posting

I was a late bloomer as well. I didn't get my degree until I was 45. Rooting for this young man!

[lumberjack_jeff]

8. My personal opinion is that most young men do the costume thing at age 15-18...

... because there's no collective archetype of what a man should be. Even if dad is in the home, and even if he is well adjusted, and even if there are a token man or two teaching in the schools, the prevailing culture really doesn't give boys a clear path to manhood. In fact the word "manhood" itself is treated as borderline pejorative.

The appearance in the photo (just like photos of my older kids at that age) IS SUPPOSED TO inspire the label of thug or troublemaker, because the culture has nothing positive to say about the alternative.

Sure, it's incumbent on all of us to recognize that for many of the kids who want you to see a thug, it's just a phase. But I think it's reasonable to ask why it's such a pervasive phase.

[John2]

10. Bill Clinton and

George W. Bush once smoked Pot in their youthfu age.

[skeewee08]

18. +100

Yep and they became President of the US.

[lumberjack_jeff]

28. So did I. "Rebellion" really isn't the issue.

It's a kind of pervasive aimlessness. 17 year olds know they are becoming men, yet have only an array of negative stereotypes (against a backdrop of discipline, suspicion, hostility and active neglect in school) to help them define what that means.

Like the guy in the OP, they're having to figure it out entirely from scratch.

It would be easy to describe it as just a phase if it weren't so common for young men to remain there.

[Tumbulu]

11. Very good point Lumberjack_Jeff

I feel that there is a terrible lack of purpose for boys and young men. Just as bad as the constant sexual objectification of the girls/young women in the popular culture imo. It is awful and I wish that I could file a class action suit against to advertisers that make money on these popular culture images. Girls and boys all reduced to trash.

And why? Why when we really need all hands on deck right now to restore and repair our fragile environment?

[LanternWaste]

25. What specifically leads you to believe that as fact?

" In fact the word "manhood" itself is treated as borderline pejorative..."

What specifically leads you to believe that as fact?

[Xyzse]

9. Just K&R

Always nice to hear about successes.

[HappyMe]

12. k&r

I wish all the best for this guy.

[Marie Marie]

13. And Trayvon Martin could have been you in a few more years.

We'll never know what he could have been thanks to that low life GZ.

[B Stieg]

14. Go get 'em, Doc!

More proof that children tend to live up to the expectations they encounter around them, and just how special a person it takes to break out of that deadly rhetorical circle.

[Tay123]

15. Judge me not

I'm passing link on as we speak,

[calimary]

22. Welcome to DU, Tay123, and also B Stieg!

Glad both of you are here! I'm gonna share that link, too.

What a powerful and brilliant argument that young man makes! He's completely correct, too. Sadly.

K&R!

[KG]

16. fuck this shit. trayvon martin wasn't on trial here. geoge fucking zimmerman was.

[Spazito]

19. Trayvon Martin went "on trial" the moment Zimmerman spotted him...

walking home in the rain after buying Skittles and an ice tea. He was summarily convicted and executed minutes later.

[bigbrother05]

41. Exactly, he was already executed, the trial was a formality to convict him

[Spazito]

42. Yes, he was posthumously convicted a second time...

for simply walking home in the rain wearing a hoodie.

[felix_numinous]

17. And he could have kept the look

and been ok too.

It is sad that this young man's point has to be made. But there are also many creative dressers and non conformists out there, and it would be even more sad if they did not feel comfortable simply being themselves.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

20. Here's a picture of a young black male who occasionally used drugs and engaged in minor mischief:

Don't know where he is today, though.

Probably in jail or living in a ditch, that's my guess.

[skeewee08]

21. Let's not forget Dr. Ben Carson

and his "temper" Ben Carson got in trouble while in school and look at him now.

[7962]

40. And yet look at the names he is called,

because his opinions are not "approved". He is one of many examples of "be all you can be". Wish I had that dedication.

[SleeplessinSoCal]

23. The photo of Trayvon in a cap and gown around age 5 is heartbreaking

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[ananda]

26. Exactly!

I can't tell you the number of times a former student has come back
to visit and tell me how well they're doing. And I would just stand
there dumbfounded wondering how they could have changed so much.

I think there's some truth to the idea that teens go through a phase
of rebellion and separation from the authoritarian mainstream, and
they do some really dumb and difficult stuff because they are not
completely mature. But then after high school, their life changes and
so does their maturity level.

[malaise]

30. Yep and I sure know lots of kids who would have been

profiled and who have completed several degrees in college.

[ms liberty]

31. I shared this on fb about an hour ago...great post! K&R n/t

[BrainMann1]

32. Well done young man

[Lucinda]

33. TY!

?

[NealK]

34. What a moving story.

K&R

[niyad]

35. k and r

[fascisthunter]

36. Trayvon's chance at any and every level in life was snuffed out

...whether he became successful or not career-wise doesn't matter. His life, precious beyong any and every imagination was stolen from him and the rest of us. Zimmerman had no right to play god.

[Catherine Vincent]

37. Very powerful

America proud!

[Cha]

38. Mahalo for this inspiring story of this young man's

on fb, Horse. I imagine Trayvon would have grown into an amazing adult himself. Just look at his parents.

They need the chance and it was yanked from Trayvon.

[spicegal]

39. My son is white, and what happened to Trayvon is upsetting to him because he feels targeted just for

being young, and knows it's ten times worse for young people of color. We live in a nice neighborhood, where he's been out late at night running, sometimes walking, and people will slow down and "stalk" him like they think he's up to something. He was accosted by a man on the street just this week, who basically threatened him, insisted he was driving too fast. I'm certain the guy would not have talked to an older person that way, and we have plenty who sometimes drive down our street a little too fast. Fortunately he didn't pull out a gun.