{"id":89668,"date":"2014-02-21T13:32:09","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=89668"},"modified":"2014-02-26T11:05:08","modified_gmt":"2014-02-26T16:05:08","slug":"trayvon-martins-mom-to-speak-on-campus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2014\/02\/trayvon-martins-mom-to-speak-on-campus\/","title":{"rendered":"Trayvon Martin’s Mom to Speak on Campus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sybrina<\/a>
Sybrina Fulton, right, shown during a candelight vigil for her son, will give a presentation on Feb. 28 in honor of Black History Month. (Photo courtesy of The Trayvon Martin Foundation)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old whose fatal shooting by a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida set off a racial firestorm, will speak at UConn on Feb. 28, at 6 p.m., in the Student Union Ballroom.<\/p>\n

Fulton\u2019s visit, almost two years to the day after Martin\u2019s death, and the subsequent acquittal of the shooter, is part of the University\u2019s events in honor of Black History Month.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the intense struggle of losing a child, Sybrina has become a role model to many by turning her grief into advocacy,\u201d said Willena Price, director of the African American Cultural Center. \u201cShe has become an inspiring spokesperson for parents and concerned citizens across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fulton’s talk also follows the mistrial earlier this month for a white man who killed another unarmed black teen in Florida.<\/p>\n

The judge in the recent case declared the mistrial after a jury said it was deadlocked on the murder charge against Michael Dunn, 47, who killed Jordan Davis, 17, after an argument at a gas station about blaring \u201cthug music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fulton and former husband Tracy Martin offered their support to Davis\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe killing is yet another reminder that, in Florida, racial profiling and stereotypes may serve as the basis for imaginary fear and the shooting and killing of young teenagers,\u201d Martin\u2019s parents noted in a joint statement. \u201cWe walk with Jordan in defining his legacy to reflect our hopes by advancing love and tolerance in his memory, and continuing the fight against unjust gun laws.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement is one of many renewed calls to reform Florida\u2019s controversial \u201cstand your ground\u201d self-defense law.<\/p>\n

The circumstances of the high-profile trial of Michael Dunn are similar to those surrounding Martin\u2019s death at the hands of George Zimmerman as the teenager walked home from a convenience store.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 26, 2012, as Martin returned from the store with candy and juice, Zimmerman spotted him and called the Sanford Police to report him, saying he looked suspicious. Moments later, there was an altercation between the two individuals in which Martin, who was unarmed, was shot in the chest.<\/p>\n

Zimmerman\u2019s acquittal resulted in a public outcry with marches and rallies around the country.<\/p>\n

After Martin\u2019s death, Fulton co-founded The Trayvon Martin Foundation<\/a>, a non-profit organization set out to raise awareness of gun violence and help provide support and advocacy for families who have had relatives fall victim to it.<\/p>\n

Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available Tuesday through Friday, noon to 8 p.m., at the Student Union ticket booth. A reception in the North Lobby of the Student Union will follow the talk.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sybrina Fulton, whose son’s fatal shooting in 2012 set off a racial firestorm, will speak at UConn on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":89642,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-89668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-30 19:29:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89668"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89689,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89668\/revisions\/89689"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/89642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89668"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=89668"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}