Trayvon Martin’s father, Tracy Martin, addressed the inaugural hearing of the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys Wednesday, promising to continue to work on behalf of his son and other “black and brown boys” in America.
“I vow to do everything in my power not to give up the fight for him, not only to fight for Trayvon, but to fight for so many other black and brown boys of this country,” he said.
The hearing, titled “The Status of Black Males: Ensuring Our Boys Mature into Strong Men,” was the first for the Caucus formed in March by Washington D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois.
Martin pointed to President Obama’s Friday remarks on his son’s story as a key catalyst for a national dialogue about young African-Americans in America.
“It’s moments and comments such as the president made, that, you know, it sparks the conversation in every household over the dinner table,” he said. “And that conversation is what can we do as parents, what can we do as men, what can we do as fathers, what can we do as mentors, to stop this from happening to your child. And I think that’s where the conversation begins.”
“We’ve taken that negative energy and we’re trying to turn it into a positive,” he continued. “A lot of people will tell you that nothing positive can come out of death but I disagree and I disagree wholeheartedly because it is what we can do tomorrow as a nation, as a people, to stop someone else’s child from being killed.”
“There’s nothing we can do to bring Trayvon back, but if there’s something we can do as a foundation to help other families from going through this, then we’re here,” he added.
Later, during questioning, Martin talked about his desire to see his son’s legacy help lead to a positive outcome.
“When I’m dead and gone, I would like to see that Trayvon Martin’s name attached to some type of statute or amendment that says you can’t simply profile our children, shoot them in the heart, kill them, and say that you were defending yourself.”
“With everything I have left in me, we’re going to try to make sure that his name won’t be dragged through the mud, that his legacy will be that Trayvon helped bridge the gap of America,” he added later.
Although Holmes Norton said that the timing of the Caucus’s inaugural hearing, less than two weeks after the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial, was coincidental, she still credited Martin’s story with renewing a focus on the plight of African-American boys in America.
“The loss of 17 -year-old Trayvon has focused attention on black males as nothing else has in decades,” Holmes Norton said.
Miami Rep. Fredrica Wilson agreed.
“There’s nothing more important that could be happening today in this nation than what is happening in this room,” she said.
“Trayvon will go down in history as the martyr who brought to the forefront the causes, the struggles, the suffering of African-American boys,” she added later.
Former Congressman and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, Georgetown University professor and msnbc contributor Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans David J. Johns also gave testimony at the event.









