Crump praises Rattlers for their continuing contributions to fight for change

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On January 12, Attorney Benjamin Crump urged the audience in a packed Gaither Gymnasium to continue battling injustice during his keynote address for the Florida A&M University Martin Luther King, Jr. Convocation.

Early in the speech he acknowledged his “favorite Rattler,” who is his wife Genae Angelique Crump, a Ph.D. alumna of FAMU. He also recognized his former law partner, FAMU alumnus Daryl Parks, who he called one of his best friends.

Crump spoke on the topic of “Where You Stand,” borrowing from the King quote that said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

He went on to cite numerous examples of the ongoing need to stand for what’s right. Crump mentioned the segregated cemetery and low number of black city employees Camilla, Ga. (where 70 percent of the residents are black), police beating of Ulysses Wilkerson in Troy, Ala., and negative comments that U.S. President Donald Trump made about African countries and Haiti.

“Where you stand is so important,” Crump said.

Crump added that FAMUans played big roles in fighting beside him while he was representing the parents of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year unarmed black teenager who was shot dead by a self-declared neighborhood watchman in Sanford, Fla. back in 2012.

After the acquittal of George Zimmerman, Martin’s killer, the Dream Defenders led by former FAMU Study Body President Phillip Agnew launched “Takeover Tuesday” in Gov. Rick Scott’s office. The group called “for the repeal of Florida’s Stand Your Ground self-defense law, an end to racial profiling and the abolition of so-called ‘school-to-prison’ education policies.” Their protest continued for 31 days.

Crump, assisted by Parks, later helped Martin’s parents secure a wrongful death settlement from the homeowners’ association that represented the subdivision in which their son was fatally shot.

“FAMU, you are our leaders,” Crump said. “You are the people who will save us. You are the best and the brightest that we have to offer.”
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