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Twitter users adopt hoodie avatars in Trayvon Martin protest

The Miami Heat basketball team donned black hoodies on Twitter in a gesture of solidarity.

 

Kevin Collier

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Posted on Mar 23, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 7:34 pm CDT

After the Internet demanded justice for slain black teenager Trayvon Martin, Twitter reached a fever pitch on Friday, condemning Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera for tweeting his view that “[Martin’s] hoodie killed” him.

There was plenty of raw outrage—but some high-profile Miami Heat stars found a quieter way to make a statement that was unique to the medium.

Martin was walking in in a Florida neighborhood, unarmed and a wearing a black hoodie, when he was shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain.

After Rivera’s comments circulated, star point guard Dwyane Wade changed his Twitter profile picture to an image of himself, wearing a black hoodie, his head bowed.

He tweeted the image with no text save three hashtags: #hoodies, #stereotype and #trayvonmartin.

Soon after, LeBron James tweeted a picture of his own—the whole Heat team, all wearing black hoodies, all with heads bowed, looking almost like monks. James also went without text—just the hashtags #WeAreTrayvonMartin #Hoodies #Stereotyped #WeWantJustice.

Photo via @DwyaneWade

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*First Published: Mar 23, 2012, 6:03 pm CDT