FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Before the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage would embark on its cruise through the Caribbean Sea and on to Jamaica and the Bahamas, the legendary TJFV founder ensured that the “Party with a Purpose” would take on a new and more poignant meaning.
Tom Joyner and thousands of TJFV cruisers paid homage to Trayvon Martin by either literally or symbolically donning their hoodies on the deck of the Royal Caribbean ocean liner. Those without hoodies either draped towels over the heads or put one or two hands over their foreheads. The throngs also participated in a moment of silence to commemorate Trayvon’s life as a show of solidarity and support for the grieving parents. Dozens of cruisers also wore T-shirts bearing Trayvon’s image.
Martin was shot at close range by an admitted trigger-happy, self-appointed neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, following an altercation in the gated Retreat at Pine Lakes community in the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Fla., on the night of the NBA All Star Game. The circumstances leading up to the fateful confrontation have sent shock waves reverberating across demographics, ethnicities and political persuasions and has inspired multiple “hoodie” marches and rallies across the country.
That Tom Joyner would take up Travyon’s cause is nothing new for the patriarch of a family business conglomerate in which the “Fly Jock” imbues parties and retreats in order to bring awareness and raise money for cultural causes dear to him. That’s how the Fantastic Voyage got its illustrious start 14 years ago. Funds raised from the TJFV go toward helping students attend Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
–terry shropshire
