Vol. 76/No. 20      May 21, 2012

Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, thanked some 100 people who gathered at Kelly Ingram Park for their support. “It is good to know other people are standing with us. It means a lot,” she said. The park is an historic site marking the 1963 battle against racial segregation here.

Among those welcoming the Martin family were Birmingham NAACP President Hezekiah Jackson IV; Sephira Shuttlesworth, widow of Black rights fighter Fred Shuttlesworth; and other community and civil rights figures.

The family also appeared briefly at a Town Hall forum at Miles College in Fairfield, just outside Birmingham. About 300 students and others at this historically Black college attended. Several parents of daughters and sons who were killed by vigilantes spoke against Alabama’s pro-vigilante “Stand Your Ground” law, which sanction and encourage vigilante violence.

It was announced that Martin’s parents would be traveling to London to build support for the Justice for Trayvon Martin Foundation. Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, explained to the meeting that among its objectives the foundation aims to “advocate for the families of other victims of murder and injustice and build opposition to racial profiling and ‘Stand Your Ground’ laws.” Some 25 states have passed version of such laws.  
 
 
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