Paul Raushenbush of Huffington Post reports that at several black churches, clergy wore hoodies today in response to George Zimmerman’s acquittal for the murder of Trayvon Martin.
Rev. Tony Lee was in his car on Saturday night when he heard the news that George Zimmerman had been found not guilty on all charges in the trial over the death of Trayvon Martin.
“My phone and texts just started blowing up — they all said, ‘they found him not guilty,'” Lee said.
Realizing that he was going to have to preach in the morning, the pastor began thinking of what he would say to his largely black congregation called Community of Hope outside of Washington, D.C. Many in the congregation have lost loved ones to gun violence, and are simultaneously grieving and seething from what is being widely experienced in the black community as an injurious miscarriage of justice.
“I knew I would be wearing my hoodie while preaching,” Lee said, “and I wrote to all the pastoral staff that hoodies are welcome.”





Many of us at St Aidan’s, S.F. wore hoodies at mass but none of us knew the others were going to do so. We also had a conversational sermon where people could express their feelings. It was a powerful witness. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153035124115193.1073741836.454914915192&type=1&l=da0cbaf383
My white priest wore a black hoodie while celebrating Mass today. I could barely keep from crying, I was so moved.
The clergy at New York City’s Middle Collegiate Church (Dutch Reformed) all wore black hoodies today and made the 6 p.m. news.