Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals or people to a higher purpose or to God or the gods as an act of propitiation or worship.

While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering (Latin oblatio) can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts. For offerings of liquids (beverages) by pouring, the term libation is used.

The Latin term came to be used of the Christian eucharist in particular, sometimes named a "bloodless sacrifice" to distinguish it from blood sacrifices. In individual pre-Christian ethnic religions, terms translated as "sacrifice" include the Indic yajna, the Greek thusia, the Germanic blōtan, the Semitic qorban/qurban, etc.

The term is also used metaphorically to describe selfless good deeds for others or a short term loss in return for a greater power gain, such as in a game of chess. Recently it has also come into use as meaning 'doing without something' or 'giving something up' (see also self-sacrifice).

The practice of sacrifice is seen in the oldest records. The archaeological record contains human and animal corpses with sacrificial marks long before any written records of the practice. Sacrifices are a common theme in most religions, though the frequency of animal, and especially human, sacrifices are rarely performed today.

The fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman took place on February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old African American male who was unarmed. George Zimmerman was a 28-year-old multi-racial Hispanic American, who was the community watch coordinator for the gated community where the shooting took place.

While on a private errand, Zimmerman saw Martin walking inside the gated community where Martin and his father were visiting his father's fiancée. Zimmerman called the Sanford Police Department to report Martin's behavior as suspicious. Shortly afterwards, there was an altercation, which ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting Martin once in the chest at close range.

When police arrived on the scene Zimmerman told them that Martin had attacked him and that he had shot Martin in self-defense. Zimmerman was bleeding from the nose and two vertical lacerations on the back of his head.EMTs treated Zimmerman at the scene, after which he was taken to the Sanford Police Department. Zimmerman was detained and questioned for approximately five hours. A statement was videotaped, and he was then released without being charged. Police said that they had not found evidence to contradict his assertion of self-defense.

James P. Wickstrom (born 1942 in Munising, Michigan) is a far right radio talk-show host and Christian Identity minister, who resides in Rhodes, Michigan. He is known for his strong opinions on racial issues, globalization, and Jews. He is also known to be intensely anti-communist.

Periodically, Wickstrom has written racially-inspired articles, and has operated as a pastor in Christian Identity organizations. In 1980, Wickstrom ran unsuccessfully in Wisconsin as a Constitution Party of Wisconsin candidate for United States Senator, coming in third with 16,156 votes; and was a Wisconsin representative to the American Independent Party's national committee. He was the party's nominee for Governor of Wisconsin in 1982, coming in fourth with 7,721 votes; and remained on the national committee. During this same period, he attracted national attention to the Posse's ideology, as an outspoken defender of the rights and concerns of Gordon Kahl, including an appearance on the Phil Donahue Show in which he soft-peddled the racist and antisemitic ideology of the Posse, portraying them as Midwestern populists. (As of December 1984, after his arrest, he was no longer an official of the Constitution Party of Wisconsin.)

Dwight Arrington Myers (May 24, 1967 – November 8, 2011), better known as Heavy D, was a Jamaican-born American rapper, record producer, singer, actor, and former leader of Heavy D & the Boyz, a hip hop group which included G-Whiz (Glen Parrish), "Trouble" T. Roy (Troy Dixon), and Eddie F (born Edward Ferrell). The group maintained a sizable audience in the United States through most of the 1990s. The five albums the group released were produced by Teddy Riley, Marley Marl, his cousin Pete Rock and Eddie F.

Myers was born on May 24, 1967 in Mandeville, Jamaica, the son of Eulahlee Lee, a nurse, and Clifford Vincent Myers, a machine technician. His family moved to Mount Vernon, New York, in the early 1970s, where he was raised.

Heavy D & the Boyz were the first group signed to Uptown Records, with Heavy D as the frontman and only rapper, and Eddie F was his business partner in the group and one of his producers. The other two members, T-Roy and G-Wiz were the dancers. Their debut, Living Large, was released in 1987. The album was a commercial success; Big Tyme was a breakthrough that included four hits.

Professor Griff is an American rapper and spoken word artist. He is a member of the hip hop group Public Enemy and head of the Security of the First World.

After returning from the army, he started a security service to work the local party circuit, calling it Unity Force. At the time, Carlton Ridenhour (a.k.a. Chuck D) was part of the Spectrum City DJ-for-hire service led by Hank Shocklee, and Spectrum and Unity Force frequently worked side-by-side at local events. When Public Enemy was formed and signed to Def Jam, Ridenhour invited Griffin to be a sideman. Unity Force was renamed "The Security of the First World", or S1W for short. The S1W's were brought along, and became a curious combination of bodyguards/dancers for the band. Their stage routines were a loose combination of martial arts, military drill and "step show" dances lifted from black college fraternities.

His role was also that of road manager and "Minister of Information", the intellectual public face of the band for interviews et cetera, as Flavor Flav was the "fun" one. He was rarely MC'ing, except between songs. Professor Griff has started to emerge on the conspiracy theory scene, typically New World Order conspiracy theory. He is known for linking these allegations to past and present celebrities.