Trayvon Martin's mother reflects on his shooting and Black Lives Matter

By Madison Bennett | MLive

KALAMAZOO, MI - In the wake of tragedy, Sybrina Fulton is using the spotlight to become a vocal activist for the African American community.

Fulton's son, Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed during a confrontation with volunteer neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012. Zimmerman was ultimately found not guilty for Martin's murder.

The shooting spurred the Black Lives Matter movement.

"It took my son, my 17-year-old, my son, who spent nine months in my stomach, it took that, to make me stand up, to make me speak," Fulton told a crowd that heard her speak in Kalamazoo's Chenery Auditorium.

In the years following his death, Fulton has become an activist and more recently, an author, speaking and sharing her story around the country.

She was in Kalamazoo Wednesday evening as part of Western Michigan University's Lyceum Lecture Series, and spoke about a variety of topics from the death of her son to Black Lives Matter and her recent book.

For the activist who campaigned for Hillary Clinton and took the stage at the Women's March on Washington, her life used to be relatively average. "I lived this average lifestyle until February 26, 2012, when my average lifestyle was interrupted," she said.

"There's a part of me that just wants to go just back to my old lifestyle and my old way of living and my old way of thinking, but from that day I can never go back."

Fulton said following her son's death, media portrayal led her to believe her son's hoodie, which he was wearing at the time he died, was once the primary reason he was shot but she now attributes the tragedy to the color of his skin.

"So I can stand here, I can take off a lot of things, I can take off my jacket, my necklace, my shirt ... but I cannot remove the color of my skin," she said.

Fulton highlighted racial divisions in the country and told audience members not to rely on others to fix problems but to instead, do their part.

"What I feel like I have to do and I'm doing now, is I'm doing my part and that's the only thing that I'm going to ask you now and before I leave this stage is for you to do your part," she said.

Following her speech, Fulton participated in on-stage interview with WMUK (102.1 FM) public radio host Earlene McMichael and a public question-and-answer session.

When an audience member asked her how long it would take her to forgive her son's killer, Fulton said she couldn't put a time frame on the healing process.

"Nobody can tell me how long it's going to take to heal my heart," she said.

Selina Wright, of Kalamazoo, lost her brother in 2012 to gun violence and said she could relate to Fulton.

"Every time I see her, I see my mother, I see my mother's pain and agony and I've always admired her strength," Wright said.

For WMU senior Salma Mumuni, Fulton's speech left her feeling empowered and inspired to do more in the community.

"What really stood out to me is how she really was about making sure that we don't look as her story as something sad but use it in a positive light and kind of move towards action," Mumuni said.

This post originally appeared March 30, 2017 on MLive.com.