A Murder and a Movement

ON A SUMMER night in New York City, my husband and I enjoyed a weekend getaway. We sat atop the High Line, the elevated park along the west side of Manhattan. But our minds were a thousand miles away, in a courthouse in Florida. The George Zimmerman verdict due to come down that night was a dark cloud hanging over our date. We would finally learn if there would be justice for Trayvon. Eventually, we got our answer in the form of an iPhone news alert. George Zimmerman was acquitted.

The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin reminded the nation that a deep racial chasm remains in the landscape of our society. The death of a 17-year-old boy carrying only Skittles and iced tea was a senseless loss. For black America, it was a sobering reminder that racism and U.S. justice are woven together so tightly that a man could shoot one of our children and be allowed to sleep in his own bed the same night.

Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin is just that, the entire story told by Trayvon’s parents Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. In this raw and earnest memoir, Fulton and Martin allow us to come alongside them as they recall what they experienced in the days and months after their son was killed.

Fulton and Martin, writing in alternating chapters, first share the stories of their lives, from their childhoods to their courtship and marriage. Fulton was raised with a deep faith in God that remained with her throughout the tragedy of losing Trayvon. Martin grew up aware of the challenges of being a black man and supported his sons with attention and love. Though the parents ended their marriage, they remained connected by their children and worked as a team.

The book then looks at life with Trayvon in the time before he was killed. He had normal teenage struggles, but was a good-hearted child who adored his parents and never caused real trouble. When he got suspended at school, his parents decided he should spend the time with Tracy Martin and his girlfriend at her home in a peaceful Sanford, Fla. subdivision. This put him in the sights of George Zimmerman, a coordinator of the gated community’s neighborhood watch. Zimmerman followed Trayvon after a 911 operator told him not to. Then he confronted Trayvon and eventually killed him with a single gunshot.

That gunshot changed life for Fulton and Martin forever. In shock at Trayvon’s sudden death, they also encountered troubling treatment by Florida officials. First, their son’s body would not be released or even shown to Martin. Next, it became apparent that the man who shot Trayvon would not be arrested. Sanford police believed Zimmerman acted in self-defense and that Florida’s “stand your ground” law applied to the situation. Fulton and Martin were floored, and they began a long and arduous quest for justice.

The memoir gives a glimpse into the cadence of everyday life following Trayvon’s death, from the exhausting press appearances their legal team hoped would pressure the police to make an arrest to Fulton’s debilitating depression. They recall the first time they heard their son’s screams on the 911 tapes and their refusal to attend the reading of the Zimmerman verdict based on their fear of what came true, that their son’s killer would go free.

Rest in Power is a poignant and painful story that still manages to provide some hope in the form of the countless supporters who were moved to start a movement in Trayvon’s honor that endures under the banner Black Lives Matter. Trayvon’s legacy is kept alive through the rallying cry, “I am Trayvon.”