The tragic death of Trayvon Martin ignited protests and forced conversations about race coupled with frank questions about the value of Black life in America.
Sybrina and Tracy’s little boy is widely seen as a slain innocent and his loss a catalyst for renewed Black concern and activism. His death has been compared to the gruesome murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955. Beaten, shot and dropped off of a Mississippi Bridge with a fan attached to his neck, the Till death was horrific. His grotesque, mutilated body in an open casket ignited the modern civil rights movement.
“Justice for Trayvon!” has become the rallying cry and wake up call for a new and an old generation and a reminder the bad old days may not be so old after all.
But as the parents have toured the country almost non-stop since the heart-wrenching day a year and a half ago, there is one thing they have not been able to do: Grieve.