The Black Law Student Association at Cooley Law School hosted the event at 6 p.m. Tuesday evening.
In his speech, Crump drew attention to the “Stand Your Ground” law that protected George Zimmerman , the neighborhood watchman who shot Trayvon Martin.
“It shouldn’t be called ‘stand your ground,’ it should be called ‘don’t miss,’” he said. “If you kill the person and you make sure they’re dead, your stand your ground argument has a much better chance of success.”
He chiefly discussed the complications the law can cause when lawyers attempt to uphold it in the courtroom.
“This law is a terrible law,” he said. “(It) encourages people to take the law into their own hands.”
Crump encouraged the students to “answer the bell” when opportunities arise to improve the lives of others.
He quoted a Chinese proverb saying, “education is no good if you keep it among the educated.”
“We need the leaders of community, the créme de la crop ... to answer the bell,” Crump said. “You have an obligation to share (your education) with them, to help them fulfill their purpose in life.”
Crump also advised the students to do the right thing when nobody is looking.
“(I took the case) before Lebron put on the hoodie before practice, or Obama said ‘If I had a son he would look like Trayvon,’” he said.
Crump spoke of Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton , the heartbreak she went through after Trayvon’s death, and her words at a rally in New York about three weeks after Trayvon’s death.
“She said, ‘I simply want to thank you all for standing up for my son Trayvon Martin. But he’s not just my son. He’s your son. He’s all our son. Because if it can happen to my son it can happen to your son,’” Crump said.
Crump spoke not only of Trayvon, but of other recent youths whose deaths have been affected by the “Stand Your Ground” law, including Jordan Davis, who was killed by Michael Dunn for having his music too loud in his car.
Crump asked, “What’s the value in a man?”
If you ask Warren Buffett, he’ll tell you a value is the return of an investment, Crump said.
“I submit to you that there is no investment that we can make that can yield a greater return than young people.”
Second-year Cooley law student Jeremy Bowie found the speech informative, he said.
“He was there firsthand, he saw the emotion that Sybrina and Trayvon’s father went through,” Bowie said.
“A law student shouldn’t think of themselves as a lawyer,” he said. “They should see themselves as social engineers of change.”
