Though the shooting of Trayvon Martin has been huge on the national and international news scene, the fashion world has remained quite mum. Designer Tracy Reese broke the silence at the launch of her Clos du Bois Chic Picnique Tuesday night in New York City, telling Huffington Post Black Voices, “Young men of color can’t be targets.”
In case you’re not up to speed, Florida high school student Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who said Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hoodie. Martin’s family believes the teen was a victim of racial discrimination, something Reese said she experienced herself as a student at Parsons School of Fashion. When she went into stores to conduct class reports, she said, “I would notice when I went out, that I was being shadowed sometimes, and it used to irritate me. But at the end of the day I was in a public place, and it was my right to be there. We should feel free to be wherever we want to be.” She added that with Trayvon’s case, “The whole thing is just so sad, and the excuses are so lame.” Agreed.
At any rate, the article is pretty interesting. Read the rest here.
Read more about Travyon Martin here or here.