If anyone knows what the?family of Michael Brown is going through right now, it’s Sybrina Fulton. She’s the mother of Trayvon Martin, the teenager slain in Feb. 2012 by George Zimmerman, who claimed he did so in self-defense while serving his Neighborhood Watch duties.
Just like Michael, Trayvon was a young, unarmed, black male who was shot and killed by so-called authority with no apparent justification. And just like the Brown family must now face their personal tragedy as it continues in public protest and on international media, so too did Fulton and her relatives.
In a letter published by Time Magazine on Aug. 18, Fulton writes to the Brown family:
?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.?
Fulton prepares them for the difficulties that may continue due to the public spotlight on their personal tragedy:
?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.?
The Browns need to brace themselves for continued negative response from some of the public, too, she advises:
?Many will express their sympathies and encourage you to keep fighting for Michael. You will also, unfortunately, hear character assassinations about Michael which I am certain you already have. This will incense and insult you. All of this will happen before and continue long after you have had the chance to lay your son to rest.I know this because I lived and continue to live this.?
She also noted the key point that can make this situation much more difficult:
?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.?
Fulton offers personal aid not just from her own experience, but also from the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which she founded one month after her son’s death to help others who undergo this same tragedy.
?I will support you and your efforts to seek justice for your Michael and the countless other Michaels & Trayvons of our country. The 20 Sandy Hook children. Jordan Davis. Oscar Grant. Kendrick Johnson. Sean Bell. Hadya Pendleton. The Aurora shooting victims. The list is too numerous to adequately mention them all. According to The Children’s Defense Fund, gun violence is the second leading cause of death for children ages 1-19. That is a horrible fact.?
She closes her letter with suggestion that the Browns join her in keeping the issue of violence against youth alive:
?(N)either 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. [?] We will no longer be ignored. We will bond, continue our fights for justice, and make them remember our children in an appropriate light.?
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