'Teachers For Trayvon': Peter Finley, Nova Southeastern University Professor, Plans Day Of Hoodies

NSU Prof Plans 'Teachers For Trayvon' Hoodie Day

In the newest wave of support for Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Miami teen shot in February, South Florida teachers are planning to wear hoodies in a show of solidarity.

Through the Facebook page, “Teachers For Trayvon," Peter Finley, a Nova Southeastern University professor, is encouraging his fellow teachers and students to wear a hoodie to class this Tuesday and Friday.

“I think that I have so many students who in the same situation, could unfortunately have had it lead to the same outcome," Finley told HuffPost Miami.

"I have students of all races, religions, widespread backgrounds. They wear hoodies, they could be profiled, and it’s really just absolutely nothing but horrible luck that it was [Trayvon Martin] as opposed to some other kid.”

Finley, a professor of sports and recreation management at NSU, has taught students around the same age as Martin was when he was killed while walking home from a trip to 7-11 in Sanford.

Though he usually wears a dress shirt and occasionally a tie when teaching, Finley was inspired to show his solidarity after the Miami Heat players tweeted a photo of the team wearing hoodies.

“I thought, I should wear a hoodie to teach for a day, and I thought, maybe teachers across the country should do that as a way to show our students that we believe in them, and we stand for young people, and that we stand for justice, and that this is an issue that we should all be thinking about,” he said.

Although it started as a South Florida grassroots movement, teachers from NSU, Broward College, and Barry University have spread the word to teachers and students beyond the state.

“I would like it to be a national thing,” Finley told HuffPost Miami. “I think it’s a national issue -- the way that we perceive young people certainly isn’t limited by states’ borders.”

Martin supporters have flocked to the symbol of the hoodie, the piece of clothing the 17-year-old was wearing when he was shot by Sanford neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman, who said the teen looked “suspicious.”

Geraldo Rivera went as far as to say on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” that Martin wearing a hoodie was “as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was." Rivera has since apologized.

In New York City, supporters joined together in the Million Hoodie March and other hoodie protests, marches, and movements have spread across the country.

Last week, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) was thrown off the House floor after wearing a hoodie in protest of the Martin shooting.

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