Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, wipes her eyes during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on “Stand Your Ground” laws October 29, 2013, in Washington. (Getty)
Trayvon Martin‘s mom, Sybrina Fulton, who suffered through the slaying of her unarmed black teen son, is publicly commiserating with another family enduring the same ordeal.
In an open letter published in Time, Fulton reaches out to the family of Michael Brown, the teenager shot dead by a cop in Ferguson, Missouri, sparking a wave of peaceful and sometimes violent protests, and a fierce response from militarized crowd-control police.
Fulton admits she can offer little consolation, but does offer her prayers:
I wish I had a word of automatic comfort but I don’t. I wish I could say that it will be alright on a certain or specific day but I can’t. I wish that all of the pain that I have endured could possibly ease some of yours but it won’t. What I can do for you is what has been done for me: pray for you then share my continuing journey as you begin yours.
She empathizes with the unique predicament of knowing who your child’s killer is, and that he remains a free man:
Further complicating the pain and loss in this tragedy is the fact that the killer of your son is alive, known, and currently free. In fact, he is on paid administrative leave. Your own feelings will bounce between sorrow and anger. Even when you don’t want to think about it because it is so much to bear, you will be forced to by merely turning on your television or answering your cell phone. You may find yourselves pulled in many different directions by strangers who may be well-wishers or detractors. Your circle will necessarily close tighter because the trust you once, if ever, you had in “the system” and their agents are forever changed. Your lives are forever changed.
She concludes by saying that neither Trayvon nor Michael died in vain:
But know this: neither of their lives shall be in vain. The galvanizations of our communities must be continued beyond the tragedies. While we fight injustice, we will also hold ourselves to an appropriate level of intelligent advocacy. If they refuse to hear us, we will make them feel us. Some will mistake that last statement as being negatively provocative. But feeling us means feeling our pain; imagining our plight as parents of slain children. We will no longer be ignored. We will bond, continue our fights for justice, and make them remember our children in an appropriate light. I would hate to think that our lawmakers and leaders would need to lose a child before protecting the rest of them and making the necessary changes NOW…
Read the full letter on Time here.
