Justice & Peace Rally to Be Held in Hart Plaza

Civil Rights, Labor, clergy and community leaders call for justice in Florida teen's murder case and peace here in Detroit

DETROIT, March 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A coalition of Detroit's Civil Rights, labor, clergy and community leaders will hold a "Justice & Peace Rally" at Hart Plaza. Together they are calling for justice in the racially charged murder of Trayvon Martin in Florida, while also calling for a peace as it relates to "black-on-black" crime here at home. The rally will take place at 6 p.m. today at Hart Plaza, with a 5 p.m. news conference on the first floor of the UAW-Ford Building at 151 W. Jefferson.

The Coalition shares the nation's outrage as it monitors developments in the senseless murder of Martin, a Sanford, FL teenager who was walking home from the local store when he was gunned down by a white neighborhood patrol volunteer. However, the outrage of the Florida tragedy has caused the Coalition to focus on the absence of outrage over increasing levels of senseless violence in Detroit that often claim the lives of African Americans at the hands of other African Americans.

"This Coalition represents all sectors of the Detroit community, and together, we are demanding justice for the Martin family in this most unfortunate incident," said Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the Detroit Branch of the NAACP. "However, I think that it is the consensus of the group that whenever a young life is taken, despite the color of the perpetrator, we should be equally outraged and take action."

WHO: Detroit Branch NAACP, Detroit 300, National Action Network, DABO, United Communities of America, United Auto Workers, Metro Detroit AFL-CIO
WHAT: Justice and Peace Rally. A pre-rally news conference will be held at 5 p.m. on the first floor of the UAW-Ford Building at 151 W. Jefferson
WHEN: Monday, March 26, 2012 at 6 p.m.
WHERE: Hart Plaza, downtown Detroit
WHY: To call for justice in the Trayvon Martin murder case, and to call for peace in Detroit to halt black-on-black crime

SOURCE Detroit Branch NAACP