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UWI TODAY
– SUNDAY 2ND NOVEMBER, 2014
No incident better defines
the condition of modern race
relations in the United States of America than the killing
of Trayvon Martin and its subsequent handling by the
justice system. The 2008 election of Barack Obama to the
US Presidency had allegedly heralded a new “post-racial
age”; and while the accomplishment was amazing and there
certainly has been change in the country’s racial dynamic,
observers could argue quite convincingly that the shift had
not been so profound. Four years later, in February 2012,
the notion of a post-racial America died on a sidewalk in
Sanford, Florida alongside 17-year-old Martin. Since then,
JordanDavis, Eric Gardner, Michael Brown and others have
utterly dispelled that notion.
But despite the jarring reality that these incidents force
us to face, there are still people willing to work and confront
the system to try and bring society closer to that dream; not
just of a place where race is not a factor but one in which
true justice protects the interests of all people, no matter
their differences. One of the ironies of the death of Trayvon
Martin is that it brought about the emergence of such a
person, a truly fierce and effective advocate for human and
civil rights – Jasmine Rand.
“It’s not just race,” Ms. Rand explained, sitting with me
in the dining room of The UWI Inn. “Sometimes it’s class,
gender, religion. It is about the manner in which you are able
to hold your government accountable for its actions.”
Followers of the Trayvon Martin case would recognise
Ms. Rand as one of the attorneys for the Martin family.
She regularly discussed the case on behalf of the family on
networks like CNN, MSNBC and Fox News. On the day
of the verdict for George Zimmerman, the man who shot
Martin, she appeared on CNNwearing a hoodie. She would
also create the “I am Trayvon Martin” campaign.
HUMAN RIGHTS
“I was relatively young,” she recalled her experience. “I
had only been out of law school for two years when the case
first started. It was incredible.”
Ms. Rand was in Trinidad and Tobago for a panel
discussion entitled “Trinidad and Tobago’s International
Obligations regarding Race Relations, Gun Violence and
Human Rights –Assessing the TrayvonMartinCase,” hosted
by the Faculty of Law on October 21, 2014.
Young and attractive in an immaculate business suit,
at first impression she doesn’t seem like the type to make a
career as an advocate for social justice, travelling around the
world campaigning for things like the rights of Rastafarians
in Jamaica, voting rights for ex-convicts and against human
trafficking. But within a few minutes of interacting with
her it is easy to sense both her plainspoken devotion to the
many causes she has taken up and her iron determination
to succeed.
How big is her ambition? Ms. Rand’s visit was part
of her “I Am the Change World Tour”, a quest essentially
to encourage people to fight against “oppression and
mistreatment” in their countries.
“I am not committed to any particular human rights
cause,” she said, because her commitment is to all.
Already her work has taken her to Colombia, Jamaica
and Morocco, where she is consulting with the Supreme
Court Justices to implement human rights throughout their
national judiciary.
Her resume is expansive, professor and lecturer at
several universities, including the prestigious Harvard Law
School (as guest lecturer). She is a member of the National
Bar Association of the US, where she holds the position of
National Chair of the Human Trafficking Task Force and
Deputy Chief of Staff to the President.
Under the
Hoodie
Jasmine Rand – Trayvon Martin family’s dynamo attorney
B y J o e l H e n r y
When asked about the source of her driven nature she
points to her grandparents:
“They didn’t have a lot but they sacrificed everything
they had to give me an opportunity to go to school and
become a lawyer. That’s why I don’t take education for
granted.Through their actions I was given an understanding
of Christ. He sacrificed what he had for others. That is what
I believe people should do and it is what I do. I give what
I have to others.”
Apart fromMs. Rand, the Faculty of Law event included
two other panellists –Mr. Khafra Kambon, President of the
Trinidad and Tobago Reparations and Professor Rose-Marie
Belle Antoine, Dean of the Law Faculty and a powerful
advocacy attorney in her own right. Ms. Rand spoke on the
Trayvon Martin case and the political situation in Trinidad
and Tobago, focusing specifically on the divisions created
through race and religion.
“When I go somewhere I want to see how the people
live,” she said. “I love going to places and learning about
the culture.”
But what of the case that started it all? Although the
Martin family won a civil suit, Zimmerman received a not
guilty verdict and is a free man today. How does a champion
for social justice cope with what is quite often an unjust
world?
“Getting the not guilty verdict left me numb. It’s really
the love of the people that got me out of bed after that,”
she said.
“You have to stand up for what’s right, win or lose. I
have to humble myself and work for God’s earthly purpose.
There’s a piece of me that probably gives up hope every day.
Sometimes I feel inadequate. Sometimes I feel the world can’t
change. But it’s not about me. At the end of the day, God is
love and I have to believe light conquers darkness.”
Professor Rose-Marie Belle Antoine, Jasmine Rand (centre) and Khafra Kambon at the Faculty of Law panel discussion.
