Re-post of Unknown Author’s Letter to Mr. George Zimmerman in Bold Italic

As a Black Man I Have had to contend with all of what’s talked about in the article below in addition to healing from my PTSD. I’ve been stopped several times by police and once on a Washington state darkened Highway in 2001 for doing absolutely nothing but driving my truck home from the beach (Ocean Shores). At the time I was a crisis-line volunteer, licensed and employed aircraft mechanic, home-owner and had $300 of my own money in my pocket plus a credit card. I considered myself an upstanding citizen and yet,… out of the blue I was [pursued] and stopped by a legally gun carrying cop who exited the patrol vehicle with his [hand on] his gun. I yelled at the cop while having my hands on my steering wheel with interior car light on, “why are you stopping me?!”,… The officer’s answer was,… “someone called-in and said you were driving drunk”,… I yelled loudly once more with a clearly articulated voice while looking the officer straight in the eye,… “I have not had a drink since 1997…!”,…. the officer then said in a calm voice “I can tell you have not been drinking”. It was the only time in my life that I had ever yelled at a police officer and was prepared to kill him that night and I think he knew it because of my defiant nature as I turned and [stood my ground]. The officer did a very curious thing by backing up slowly, entered his patrol car, turned off the lights and drove away. All without ever asking for my vehicle registration or driver license which is required to be checked once an “official” stop has been made. The following week while on volunteer duty,… I mentioned to the crisis-line staff(all white) what had happened to me,… and they were shocked to say the least. I’m lucky to be alive today to share one of my personal stories with you and I encourage other Men of color,… but particularly Black Men,… to share your stories via some form of media(voice, written word, painting,… etc.). By sharing your stories,… it can be a way to honor yourselves and those individuals who have been harmed unjustly and “silenced” with death,… it is a way to make known,… the prevalence of such contradictory and destructive behavior that takes place within our society. Keep in mind that many of these transgressions take place and have taken place without any official record of their existence. Consider choosing to let your individual stories become an official record.

With a heavy heart,… I agree with what the author has written below and particularly the deeply profound final sentence. I feel a great uneasiness for Mr. Zimmerman because he has opened a Pandora’s-box for himself. I would not wish my personal and horrible experiences or anything similar,… on anyone,… including Mr. Zimmerman.

I’m 50 years old and another Black male who could have been Mr. Trayvon Martin…

Howard Lovely, Jr.

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Dear George Zimmerman,

For the rest of your life you are now going to feel what its like to be a black man in America.

You will feel people stare at you. Judging you for what you think are  unfair reasons. You will lose out on getting jobs for something you feel is outside of your control. You will believe yourself to be an  upstanding citizen and wonder why people choose to not see that.

People will cross the street when they see you coming. They will call  you hurtful names. It will drive you so insane some days that you’ll  want to scream at the top of your lungs. But you will have to wake up  the next day, put on firm look and push through life.

I bet you never thought that by shooting a black male you’d end up inheriting all of his struggles.

Enjoy your “freedom.”

Sincerely,

 A black male who could’ve been Trayvon Martin