A Teenage Boy Is Dead And By The Way It's All About Me

I didn't learn about Alicia Stanley's interview until the day after it was televised but when I learned that she concurred with the parents of Trayvon Martin that this case was not about racial profiling I knew I had to watch.  After all this is Trayvon's step mother one would have to believe that she also cares this dead teen.  What I learned very quickly upon watching this video was that this interview was much more about Ms. Stanley than it was about giving insight to the final hours of Trayvon's life.

First of all I wrongly assumed that Ms. Stanley was the woman who was engaged to Travyon's father and owned the condo where he was staying.  As you already know that one should never assume especially when we are talking about this case.

Alicia Stanley met Tracy Martin about a year before he offically divorced from Trayvon's mother Sybrina Fulton.  Tracy and Alicia were married for 14 years before he met Brandi the woman who owned the condo were Trayvon was staying that night.

Alicia tells viewers that in fact SHE was the one who was there for Trayvon and that he stayed at HER house 85% of the time.

Alicia says that she never knew the Trayvon that the press has portrayed and the she saw him.  Her words speak to the love she held for the young man she helped raise

I always find it interesting that two people can see or hear the exact same thing but come away with diametrically different memories of the same event.  What I noted was pain Ms. Alicia expresses about the loss of Trayvon as well as the fact that she did not believe that the tragedy of this young man's death was not caused by a rabid racist named George Zimmerman

On the other hand I noticed that she received a great deal of criticism because she was very offended that she was not sitting in the front row at the funeral. Still others were upset that Alicia intimated that the relationship between Trayvon and his own mother may not have been a close and loving one.

It is interesting to note that Trayvon's school attendance and grades began to suffer once he returned to live with his mother.  His records also indicate multiple school suspensions for vandalism, vulgarity, theft, burglary, drug use, and street fights.One could easily say that the warning lights were flashing but the adults in his life were not heeding the warning.

Trayvon was at an age when kids really need control and stability.  While Trayvon may have indeed liked living with his mother because it allowed him freedom to do as he pleased deep down he felt like a rudderless ship drifting in a sea of uncertainty.

Did Trayvon, like many young people struggling with the lack of developemental skills to navigate a world he sees as a threatening place/  When he saw that Zimmerman was following him, did he  seek control  by becoming aggressive, argumentative, impulsive and agitated?  He was only feet from the condo where he was staying, why did he not go home?  Why did he not call 911 when he first saw Zimmerman and felt he was being followed rather than hang on the phone with a friend?

Remember, Zimmerman was not charged in the shooting originally because there was no grounds to disprove his account of self-defense and the assertion that Martin had attacked him.

According to Zimmerman Trayvon asked Zimmerman if he had a problem.  Zimmerman said no and reached for his cell phone, he told police.  Trayvon then said, "Well you do now" or something similar and punched Zimmerman in the nose according to the account he gave police.

Not only does some eye witness testimony affirm Zimmerman's account but so does some of the physical evidence.

I can't help but think that if one adult had said, "This is not about me, this is about Trayvon this situation may have turned out differently."







.