Trayvon Martin's Mother: 'The Pain Is So Fresh'
As the death toll of African-American women, men and children killed from racial violence rises, the news puts an emotional strain on many Blacks, who can't help but ask, "Am I next?"
Social media has pushed these injustices to the forefront and raised up a new generation of activists fighting to ensure that Black Lives Matter. Sybrina Fulton knows this all too well.
As the mother of Trayvon Martin, she found herself at the center of what has become an international and ongoing movement after her son was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in 2012. The case was an awakening for many, including Fulton, who recently told New York Magazine that she originally resisted the activist role.
"I have to do my part, I have to do something to remember my son," she said. "I have to do something to try to make a difference in this world and try to do something to bring awareness to racial profiling, gun violence, and just the evilness that’s going on right now."
She told the publication that she has met with the families of several victims including Sandra Bland of Texas; Sean Bell and Ramarley Graham of New York City; Hadiya Pendleton in Chicago; Oscar Grant of Oakland; and many others. She continues her work through her Circle of Mothers group, which aims to bring healing to mothers of victims.
When asked if she had forgiven Zimmerman for killing Trayvon, she said she had not.
"I think the wounds to me are too fresh, and everybody forgives in their own time. I’m just not there. I will never forget, and I have not forgiven. It's a process. I carry it every day and I’m just not there."
Read the full interview here.
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(Photo: Scott Olson/Getty Images)