Talib Kweli joins Stand Your Ground protest in Florida

Rapper Talib Kweli has joined protesters at a sit-in outside the Florida State Capitol to speak out against the state’s controversial self-defence law, Stand Your Ground. The hip-hop hitmaker showed up to the Tallahassee rally on Thursday (08Aug13) to offer his support to the #TakeOverFL campaign, an initiative launched by officials at the Dream Defenders organisation, which is seeking to repeal the law and put a stop to racial profiling.
He was still with demonstrators on Friday morning (09Aug13), when he took to his Twitter.com blog to write, “Still at the Capitol in Tallahassee with @Dreamdefenders…”
Stand Your Ground, which allows an individual to use deadly force if they believe their safety is under threat, hit headlines in the U.S. last year (12) following the death of Trayvon Martin. The 17-year-old African-American was shot and killed by white neighbourhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida and he was acquitted of the youngster’s murder in a controversial verdict last month (Jul13).
The ruling sparked protests across the country by civil rights activists, who believed the slaying was motivated by racial prejudice, and they have been demanding Florida Governor Rick Scott call a special session to address their concerns. The politician met with some of the protesters in July (13), but insisted he had no plans to reconvene legislators to discuss the issue and instead expressed his support for Stand Your Ground.