BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
When the verdict in the George Zimmerman murder trial was read, it was met with disbelief by many. Emotions ran high throughout the country.
Ms. Rholiya Arnao and her daughter, Kaliya Walker, watched the announcement and both cried. “My daughter said someone needs to do something and I said you can. She asked, ‘what can I do?”
Ms. Arnao didn’t realize it, but she had spurred her 15-year-old daughter into action. “She didn’t tell me what she was doing, but she created a flyer advertising “Peace Rally for Trayvon Martin” and posted them on Facebook and other social media.”
Ms. Arnao said that when she did find out about the flyer, she let Kaliya know that she was willing to help. The mother and daughter team soon learned that Mrs. Rhonda Thompson, Ms. Arnao’s mom (and Kilya’s grandmother, was also willing to help).
“My mother said, “Whatever you need help with, I’ll help.” And that was the birth of a family affair Kilya appropriately named “We Are One.”
Ms. Arnao said she began speaking to churches and people in the Progress Village area, and they liked the idea. Meanwhile, the flyer was being shared on the social media. Their plan was to have everyone gather at the federal courthouse in downtown Tampa to participate in the peaceful demonstration Saturday, July 20th, from 12 noon until 3 p.m.
Kaliya, who plans to become an attorney said, “I didn’t think anyone else was going to do it, and something needed to be done. I felt like that if Trayvon was of another race there would have been justice for him. Blacks didn’t come together. We always talk about what we’re going to do, but we don’t.”
As a teenager, Kaliya said she can relate to the situation involving Trayvon Martin. She will be a freshman at East Bay High School when school begins next month.
The family had no idea that Reverend Al Sharpton was planning a national “Justice For Trayvon” rally. As of Wednesday, more than 100 cities planned to gather at federal courthouses this weekend.
