MLK Hoodie Photo Goes Viral After George Zimmerman Verdict; Divides Opinion
An image portraying famed civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. wearing a hoodie similar to the one 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was wearing when he was shot in Feb. 2012 in Sanford, Fla. has gone viral on the internet, sharply dividing opinion.
The image was uploaded to Twitter Sunday by Van Jones, a former White House senior adviser to President Obama who resigned from the administration after receiving criticism for his involvement in past political activism.
"April 4th, 1968…#RIPTrayvonMartin. Please RT and share this image. #MLK," Jones tweeted on Sunday, citing the date of the assassination of MLK in Memphis, Tenn.
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Many of those who have circulated the image of MLK in a hoodie on social media are unhappy with the verdict reached Saturday in the George Zimmerman case, in which a six-woman jury found Zimmerman, 29, not guilty of second degree murder and manslaughter in the Feb. 2012 shooting of Martin.
According to the art gallery blog The Gun Show, the now-viral image of MLK in a hoodie was reportedly created by artist Nikkolas Smith, who in a short description accompanying the artwork wrote: "The Dream will never die. It is more powerful than fear or violence. It can never be swindled away or destroyed. It is one of Love, and therefore timeless."
On his gallery website, Smith is selling the image as a print for $20.
The artwork has gained a widespread amount of attention on social media, with journalist Roland Martin retweeting the image and describing it as "powerful!" and others, including NYC-based talent manager Sharon Jenkins, describing it as "poignant."
Others, however, have described the image as disrespectful to Dr. King, and hundreds have commented online slamming the comparison being made between Martin and King.
The image of the hoodie has become a symbol of the Trayvon Martin murder trial as the unarmed 17-year-old was reportedly wearing a hoodie and carrying a bag of Skittles candy at the time he was shot in a residential neighborhood in Sanford, Fla. by Zimmerman in Feb. 2012.
Many expressed outrage that Zimmerman wasn't immediately arrested for the shooting, and argued that Zimmerman, who served as neighborhood watch in the community, had racially profiled Martin, who was African American.
Protests following Martin's death included thousands across the country marching while wearing hoodies and carring bags of Skittles, and celebrities and sports icons even tweeting photos of themselves wearing hooded sweatshirts to show their support for the Martin family.
The hoodie symbol evidently continues following Zimmerman's verdict. The cover of the New York Daily News on Monday, for example, showed an empty hoodie accompanied by the names of African American men who have previously been murdered.
Additionally, pastors in Sanford, Fla. held special services on Sunday following the verdict in which they wore hoodies and spoke to their congregations about the importance of hope and peace.
Zimmerman was acquitted on Saturday, but Attorney General Eric Holder of the Justice Department announced Monday that he will be investigating the case for possible civil rights violations, although most analysts are skeptical whether civil charges will proceed.
Van Jones, the former White House adviser who tweeted Smith's artwork, resigned from the Obama administration in 2009 after receiving heavy criticism for previous comments he made regarding congressional Republicans, as well as his signing of a petition that claimed the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City may have been allowed by the George W. Bush administration as a "pretext for war."
