It has been just under 12 years since Trayvon Martin was shot and killed after being stalked by George Zimmerman, and his mother and demonstrators are keeping his memory alive.
On Saturday, crowds gathered in Miami Gardens, Florida, for the 12th annual Trayvon Martin Peace Walk and Talk, which took place just two days before what would have been Trayvon’s 29th birthday.
7News Miami reports that over the weekend, participants met at Walt Frazier Park in Carol City and marched to the Betty T. Ferguson Recreation Complex in Miami Gardens, where they enjoyed food trucks, vendors, good music and motivational speakers. All of the festivities commemorated Trayvon, who never asked to be the martyr whose violent death would arguably catalyze the Black Lives Matter movement, but who became a martyr all the same.
“It shows the community that we didn’t forget about them, because in our time of need, the community didn’t forget about us,” Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, told 7 News Miami of the event. “It means a lot to us, and it means a lot for the community to come out and still support us 12 years later.”