Trayvon Martin’s father, mother fight for his image
theGRIO REPORT - Tracy Martin has been preparing for his second Father's Day without the son family members and Trayvon Martin's former football coach have described as so close to his father...
She says that when their son was killed, they were lucky enough to find “a strong legal team that kind of gave us direction.” Crump and his law partner, Darryl Parks, and Sanford attorney Natalie Jackson, are often stitched to the couple’s side. And Crump is fiercely protective, especially of Fulton, with the press. Fulton said other families might not be so lucky, and that more than legal advice, families in their position need someone to talk to who understands what no parent should.
“We want to just try to help, even if its just words of encouragement.” She said. After the trial, they plan to put together a national conference call for families who’ve experienced a loss due to gun violence, “so we can speak amongst each other, and we can pray for each other.”
“We kind of know what each other are going through,” she said of the families they’ve already talked to. “And that [helps] out a great deal because it’s hard talking to someone and they have no clue of just the journey that you’ve been on. But somebody that’s in your same shoes, thats going through some of the same things that you’re going through, you can relate to them a little better.”
Fulton said one of the families they’ve been in touch with are the parents of Jordan Davis, the 17-year-old who was shot to death in Jacksonville, Florida last November after 45-year-old Michael David Dunn allegedly fired multiple shots into the car carrying Davis and three friends, following a dispute at a gas station over their loud music. Dunn is charged with first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty, claiming he felt threatened by the teens. Fulton said they reached out to Davis’ parents “just to show them that we are in support of them and that we stand with them.”
The foundation keeps Fulton busy. She is on extended leave from her job after co-workers donated their sick and comp time to her last year. And she finds ways to talk about her loss publicly. During an interview last December, she told Essence.com she was on an “emotional roller coaster.”
“He had just turned 17 a few days before he was killed,” she told Essence. “I remember how much he was looking forward to senior picture day. I won’t ever get a chance see those moments; to see his high school graduation picture, his prom pictures, his wedding pictures. I won’t get that experience. It’s still difficult to swallow because Trayvon had his whole life ahead of him. Seventeen years just seems so short to me, but I do thank God for the time that he did give me with him.”
Today, she and Tracy Martin are trying to focus on the future, and the good they hope they can do for other families.
“Our teenager has no voice any longer,” she says, “so as a parent, I feel it is necessary for us to speak on his behalf.”
Fulton and Martin are often flanked by pastors, from Sanford, and from Fulton’s Miami church, both in and out of court. Fulton often refers to her strong belief in God.
“It just helps to know that you’re not standing there by yourself,” she says. “And that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a higher being and that there is somebody that sits high and is looking low and that is watching all of this, and that’s helping you stand up because even just a normal day isn’t normal anymore.”
Follow Joy Reid on Twitter at @thereidreport
