After Five Years Trayvon Martin’s Parents Are Considering Political Runs
It’s been almost five years since Trayvon Martin’s death and now his parents are considering running for political office to be a part of the change the country needs, said a USA Today report.
Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin did an exclusive interview with USA Today in anticipation of the release of their book, Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, which releases on Tuesday. The book is a behind-the-scenes look at the teen’s life and what his family went through after his death along with their role in the nationwide movement to stop racial injustice.
In the interview they said they now fear that President trump will reverse what has already been accomplished through the Black Lives Matter movement, which was sparked by Martin’s death.
“Since Trayvon’s death, we saw how divided the country is on these issues and we saw how the country can come together,” Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, told Capital Download. “You have those that are for uniting the country and you have those that want to be apart. And what this new presidency does, it takes those that want to be apart and it puts them right in the position where they can say, ‘We’ll change the laws, and we’ll make it tougher.'”
Fulton and Martin say they would’ve never considered running for office, in fact that is something they would’ve laughed at five years ago “before our life got interrupted,” they said to USA Today.
“Before I was just comfortable with my average life, but now I feel like I’m just obligated to be part of the change,” Fulton said in the interview. “The only way we can be part of the change is if we start with local government and we work our way up.”
Fulton and Martin’s political run could start small with city or county commission, but they both told USA Today they won’t limit their goals.
Trayvon Martin was shot and killed on Feb. 26, 2012 in a Sanford neighborhood by former Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman. In 2013 Zimmerman was acquitted of killing the unarmed 17-year-old.
