LITTLE ROCK — When Trayvon Martin’s parents lost a son, they gained a cause.
On Tuesday, five months after their 17-year-old son was shot and killed by a neighborhood-watch commander in a gated Florida community, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin spoke in Little Rock, saying their son’s death went beyond the black community and was an American “tragedy.”
“No matter the color of your skin ... an injustice is an injustice,” Martin said of his son’s fatal shooting by George Zimmerman. “Our fight [for justice] is very important to our nation.”
Martin’s parents made the comments after speaking at the Civil Rights Awards breakfast at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives’ 36th annual conference, which is being held in Little Rock this week.
On Tuesday morning, Martin and Fulton publicly thanked that organization, which has roughly 3,500 members consisting of command staff officials at various levels in law enforcement.
The two said the organization was instrumental in pushing authorities and city officials in Sanford, Fla., to prosecute in the shooting, which Zimmerman’s attorney said was in self-defense, but many in the black community saw it as unnecessary and racially motivated.
Benjamin Crump, the family’s attorney, also spoke at the event and said the organization’s membership kept authorities from letting the teen’s death be “swept under the rug.”
Zimmerman, 28, has pleaded innocent to seconddegree murder charges in the case. He was released from jail earlier this month on a $1 million bond and is awaiting trial.
In welcoming Martin and Fulton, former Detroit Deputy Police Chief Brenda Goss Andrews said Trayvon Martin’s death is a marker in the ongoing civil-rights story and a call for action. Andrews is chairman of the organization’s civil-rights committee.
“There are too many Trayvon Martins in our community,” Andrews said. “Far too many of our children and young people are being killed. ... This must stop.”
Martin and Fulton said that shortly after their son’s death, they set out to see Zimmerman brought to justice.
As the months went on and their son’s shooting became an international news story, Martin and Fulton said, they took it on themselves to raise awareness about racialprofiling, conflict resolution, and other social and political tensions that marginalize the deaths of young people.
“I often thought about ‘Why me? And why us?’” Fulton said. “Why not us? I feel like no one else would have been as outspoken as we have been. ... It’s not a job we applied for ... but we’re dedicated to it.”
Beyond hosting Trayvon Martin’s parents, the organization honored several Arkanssans for their work in furthering civil rights, including educator and civic leader William “Sonny” Walker, former NFL star Keith Jackson and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, the nation’s first black female U.S. surgeon general.
During her keynote address at the organization’s meeting, former Little Rock Mayor and longtime Democratic official Lottie Shackelford said that the fair and equitable “administration of justice” is at the heart of the civil-rights movement.
“Each of you has the wherewithal to blaze a trail [for civil rights],” Shackelford told the lawmen. “A civil right gained yesterday should be taken for today. ... We must equip a new generation to social action.”
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 07/25/2012