Trayvon Martin's Mother Reflects On The Five-Year Anniversary Of His Death

Photo by Jake Green

Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, recently spoke about her son's tragic death at Western Michigan University, as a part of the school's Lyceum Lecture series.

The speech spanned everything from Trayvon's death (and the Black Lives Matter movement it inspired) to Fulton's activism and her recently-released memoir about her son.

"I lived this average lifestyle until February 26, 2012, when my average lifestyle was interrupted," Fulton said. "There's a part of me that just wants to go just back to my old lifestyle and my old way of living and my old way of thinking, but from that day I can never go back."

Fulton then discussed how the media's portrayal of Trayvon led her to think that the primary reason he was shot because he was wearing a hoodie at the time of his death. However, she now attributes that to his skin color.

"So I can stand here, I can take off a lot of things, I can take off my jacket, my necklace, my shirt...but I cannot remove the color of my skin," she said.

In a public question-and-answer session that followed, Fulton took questions from the audience, one of which was how long it would take her to forgive George Zimmerman, the man that killed Trayvon.

"Nobody can tell me how long it's going to take to heal my heart," she said.

Last month marked the five-year anniversary of Trayvon's death. Jay Z and the Weinstein Company will be creating a film and docuseries based on books written about Trayvon, one of which is Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin (the memoir written by Fulton, and father Tracy Martin).

This news comes after the premiere of the fourth part of the six-part docuseries The Kalief Browder Story, which Jay Z and the Weinstein Company also produced.