Until this year, I've been a television producer. For over two decades I produced programs for CBS News, Dateline NBC, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," NASA, and the U.S. Department of State. On March 17th I created the petition "Justice for Trayvon Martin." It called for the U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to step in and take over the investigation into the shooting death of the unarmed teenager by the so called neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman.
Less than two weeks after its creation, over 540,000 people signed my petition. On the one month anniversary of Trayvon's death, I delivered the petition to the Justice Department. To say my life changed that day is an understatement. I met people via email, facebook, twitter and in person who had lost loved ones as a result of gun violence. I received words of support and encouragement along with angry emails and phone calls. I've been both praised and vilified. In creating the petition, I put myself out there -- something I rarely did as a journalist -- and I don't regret it for one minute!
Today, watching events unfold in the recall election in Wisconsin, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction and contentment. Although I enjoyed my work as a journalist, the people I met and the stories I was able to share, I feel that my work today makes a tangible, measurable difference. Through efforts like my own, children may one day feel safer, I hope, because there are fewer guns on the streets, fewer bad lawmakers taking away their rights for the sake of power and selfish gain. This hope takes my breath away. I think about Trayvon's family every day especially when I watch my two young sons grow. They know Trayvon's face and they know the name of his killer. They stood with me the day I delivered the petitions and shouted "No justice, no peace!"
This is our country. EVERY one of us deserves freedom, justice, equal -- and honest - representation! I love my nation and ALL of her people. Some things are worth giving up personal comfort. Trayvon is worth it, my children are worth it. And so are yours.