The murder of Trayvon Martin and lack of arrest of George Zimmerman has left us heavy-hearted and angry.
As I’ve spent several days trying to express this heartbreak, I decided to work my own illustrative piece, Justice For Trayvon , which led me on a quest to find other Trayvon -inspired artwork.
As it turns out, creatives from all over—and from various ethnic backgrounds, ages and artistic mediums, have been expressing their pain and frustration through art, photography and illustration.
We’re proud to display these works and will continue to take and feature new submissions in his honor.
Socially conscious artist Michael D’Antuon o offers this controversial painting which he says, “symbolizes the travesty of racially profiling innocent children and how present day prejudices affect policy.”
A New York City-based artist, who goes by the alias BluDog , created this piece as a sticker that’s been spread throughout midtown.
He combines the weapon used to kill Trayvon with an image of open Skittles , which symbolize the candy Trayvon had purchased before encountering George Zimmerman .
20-year-old Autumn Hayes , a budding digital artist attending the University Of Illinois for Industrial Design, drew a Trayvon as an angel.
Lexington, Kentucky-based Christina Terrano , mother and children’s portrait photographer, captured her daughter Cordelia in a hoodie for this Trayvon -inspired photograph. She included the following poem:
No parent should have to feel the pain of losing a child, least of all at the hands of someone who could not look past the color of a childs skin, or clothing.
There is no outfit that says, “Criminal.”
There is no color that says, “Crook.”
I should not live in fear of what my child wears.Trayvon Martin’s parents should not have to be told that it was what he was wearing that caused a deranged man to chase, and tragically kill, their son.
It should not happen.
There is no reason for it.
A black hoodie does not represent what’s wrong in our country.
The need to victimize a killer does.No one should have to feel the pain of losing a child, and this is captured in his name ….
19-year-old Lily Luo , depicts Trayvon resting in piece with all the Skittles he could want. The artist, who is also a biochemistry student at Arizona State University , received a bit of backlash for the artwork and the following statement which partially explains the word “Reponsible” in her piece:
…be aware that this kind of treatment only happens to people of color and especially Black people; if it was a Black man shooting a white boy, you can bet that he’d get the death penalty.
Whiteness is responsible; it’s responsible for constructing Black children as “suspicious” just for walking down the street, it’s responsible for the highly disproportionate profiling, arrests, and high conviction rates of Black people, and it’s responsible for the terror Black people have for their safety. This is NOT post racial America. This is AmeriKKKa.
Our justice system, this country which was built on the backs of slaves and thrives on racism, is as much of a murderer as Zimmerman is.
Rest in peace Trayvon . My heart is with his family, who have shown tremendous courage, and may justice be served.
Scott Hughes
Scott Hughes , an art teacher and designer in Orlando Florida showed his #MillionHoodies support with this quick sketch.
Baltimore artist Andrea Moore created this digital airbrush portait of Trayvon in a store, purchasing the infamous iced tea and skittles before his death. Like most of us, Andrea is sorting through endless, sleep-depriving thoughts–some she’s expressed as a former Florida resident:
What happened to you, Sanford Police? Do you still think he was a Second-Class Citizen? What does Zimmerman knows or has in order for you to protect his behind so much? Please, allow me to THINK he has something. I ask you this to not allow me to consider that he was covered because of something as shallow as Trayvon being black. Or maybe Trayvon having the wrong Arizona Iced Tea flavor or snack you happen to not like instead of a gun, since he was unarmed and that’s what he had on his pockets that day.
Photographer and digital artist Adam Baron captured this image of two little girls, one holding a Trayvon R.I.P. sign, at a Miami, Florida march last week.
Hunter Langston
Hunter Langston , a 31-year-old graphic designer based in Detroit, Michigan, has applied his clean, minimalistic design style to this Trayvon -inspired poster.
Detroit photographer Edward M. took his #MillionHoodies contribution to a whole other level, incorporating the exact stereotype of Black men and hoodies that seems to linger in certain people’s psyches. Do you automatically see a violent, gun-carrying criminal the very second you see a hoodie on Black skin?
Jeff aka Stray
Los Angeles, California-based digital artist Jeff aka Stray was compelled to created Trayvon ‘s likeness in this greyscale digital painting.
Hampton, Virginia-based child and family photographer Kris Oneal captured herself as a contribution to #MillionHoodies.
NYC-based Camille Bellecoeur , owner of a SecondLife boutique called Urbana , composed this Trayvon -inspired portrait of a girl in a hoodie, crying. Additionally, she had this to say:
It is a disgrace that in 2012 that we still have racial profiling, that we have laws that make it okay to “shoot first, ask questions later”, that the media and the Martin family have done more investigating than the actual police, and so much more. It just hurts me so deeply that this is even a conversation in this day and age.
Canadian line art illustrator Bettie Banshee says “I can’t get these details out of my head: Skittles, iced tea, and a black hoodie. Had he been white, this would’ve been just trip to the corner store.”
Melissa Frantz , a Portland, Oregon mother of a new baby girl and 3 boys—two of which are Black, captured her adorable little ones on their front porch for this Trayvon -inspired photograph.
Read More“When you look at my beautiful, brown skinned boys, and remark on their long eyelashes or gorgeous smiles– look at them as future black men. Look at them as hoodie wearing teenage boys. Think about Trayvon and young, black boys like him who find themselves in positions where their innocence rather than their guilt has to be proved.”
Tennessee artist James McKissic painted this abstract Blues Song for a Brown Boy: for Trayvon .
Austin, Texas-based illustrator and designer Terrence Moline submitted a rather chilling piece, with a pool of blood below the Skittles tagline, “Taste The Rainbow.”
Baltimore street artist Justin Nether took to the city’s abandoned buildings to showcase his Trayvon -inspired artwork. The pieces gained enough popularity that they were featured in a story by the Baltimore Sun .
Using wheat paste— mix of flour, water and wood glue that is less permanent than the paints used for graffiti, Nether paints his images on top of a heavy graphic paper.
We’ll add more work as it comes in, in the meantime, if you haven’t already signed the petition for Trayvon , do so here .