VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 3/30/12)—In a video posted to the home page of American Baptist Home Mission Societies’ website, ABHMS Executive Director Dr. Aidsand F. Wright-Riggins III addresses the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who was shot by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26.

Some have called the killing racially motivated because Martin, an African-American, was unarmed, carrying only a bag of candy and a bottle of iced tea, according to news reports. Martin was walking through a gated community, where he was deemed “suspicious” by 28-year-old George Zimmerman, who admitted to the killing. Zimmerman, according to news reports, says the killing was self-defense.

“We must find a new and better way,” says Wright-Riggins, who, in the video, relates his and his son’s frightening and frustrating experiences of “walking and driving while black” in the United States.

Public rallies throughout the country have called for the arrest of Zimmerman.

To view the video, visit www.abhms.org. The video can be accessed by clicking the boxes in the slideshow on the home page or by going to the left menu and clicking “About Us” and then “Executive Director.”

American Baptist Home Mission Societies—the domestic mission arm of American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA)—ministers as the caring heart and serving hands of Jesus Christ across the United States and Puerto Rico through a multitude of initiatives that focus on discipleship, community and justice.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.