A march for change

IOWA CITY - An estimated 500 people wearing hooded sweat shirts marched on the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall last night to seek justice for a Florida teenager who was killed last month.

Organizers of the local 1,000,000 Hoodie March for Trayvon Martin - one of numerous such events held around the country - say the case sheds light on the national and local problem of racial discrimination.

“I'm the mother of a black son, and since the day he came into my life I've thought every single day about how I'm going to have conversations with him to prepare him to be racial profiled,” said Megan Schwalm.

Martin, 17, died of a gunshot wound to the chest after an alleged physical altercation with neighborhood watch activist George Zimmerman last month. Martin, who was black, was unarmed and wearing a hooded sweat shirt as he walked through the Sandford, Fla., neighborhood.

Zimmerman, who is Hispanic, hasn't been charged because police say his actions are protected under what's commonly known as Florida's “stand your ground” law, which allows the use of deadly force against a person who's perceived as a threat. A similar law passed the Iowa House of Representatives this month but was never brought up for debate in the Senate, though its sponsor says he'll resubmit it next session.

“There are lots of problems with racial profiling, specifically in the Iowa City area,” Schwalm said. “We think, ‘This is a university town, and we're doing all this diversity training,' but then we don't listen to the people of color here and listen to their stories.”

Event organizers bused residents from Iowa City's southeast side neighborhoods to the march. Community activist Royceann Porter delivered a speech to the crowd, calling for change in the local perception of the African-American community.

“I will stand here and fight for every kid in this city,” she said.

Last year Porter was found not guilty of a misdemeanor charge of maintaining a disorderly house after a fight broke out at a party she was holding. Porter, a member of the Iowa City police citizens' review board, alleged that she had been targeted for her criticisms of local police.

Porter was one of a handful of speakers at the event. Community members from Iowa City, Coralville and Cedar Rapids took part in the march.

“This 1960s racist stuff, when is it ever going to end?” asked Tyren Harper of Coralville. “The world is diverse now, everybody is together, we all hang together now.”

The crowd brushed aside allegations that Martin was the aggressor in the case (story, 6A).

“I don't think Trayvon was beating him up, I think to come to that conclusion is not even logical and it's foolish,” said Jason Watson, who helped out with the event. “(Trayvon) was being followed and he didn't know what to do.”

In Des Moines, more than 200 people attended a similar event on the west steps of the Statehouse.

“I am tired of injustice. I am tired of our babies dying,” said Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad, D-Des Moines, who is black, who wore a black hoodie as he told the crowd about his son being shot and killed in 1996.

He then led the gathering in chants of “No justice, no peace.”

The Gazette Des Moines Bureau's Mike Wiser contributed to this report.