April 15, 2012
Trayvon's Angelic Mom
BY Dr. E. Faye Williams
(TriceEdneyWire.com ) – It is not often that Black women are portrayed in a positive light, but I must compliment most media as portraying a mother who since day one of the loss of her son as one who simply and rightly has been asking for justice in the murder of her 17 year old son. No mother ever expects her offspring to die before she does, and in my experience, if mothers had the chance, they would give their lives to spare the lives of their children.
Throughout this tragedy, Sabrina Fulton has remained firm, focused, calm and, yes, angelic. We have never seen her deviate from her cry for justice. We haven’t heard a bit of hate or meanness in her voice, but we can clearly hear her pain as she speaks. She has never asked for revenge. She has never disparaged the family of the murderer of her son. There is no bitterness in her voice. She just pleads for justice.
I don’t know how anyone can hear her plea as she deals with the tragedy of her son’s untimely death and feel anything other than hurt. We have a desire to want what she wants, and pray that there is something constructive that we can do. Many people responded to her plea. They prayed for her, rallied for justice, spoke out for justice and tried to lift her up with all the love they could muster. This included mothers of other colors, creeds and cultures.
Through it all, Sabrina has been so graceful. She never fails to show how grateful she is for whatever anyone does to bring her son’s case to justice. When the prosecutor announced her decision to charge George Zimmerman with second degree murder, Mrs. Fulton never gloated, never raised her voice. She didn’t celebrate. She graciously thanked everyone for whatever help they had given. She thanked the Lord and backed away from the microphone.
On the other hand, we have seen members of Zimmerman’s family and a few others try to tarnish Mrs. Fulton’s son when it was her son who was shot and killed by a self-appointed so called watch leader of a mostly white neighborhood—and Zimmerman admits he followed him because Trayvon looked “suspicious”. This was after Zimmerman had been told by a police official not to follow him because they were on the way. After admitting the shooting of Trayvon, who was unarmed, Zimmerman had the gall to try to make us believe it was self-defense.
Still, all Trayvon’s parents have asked for is justice—something the Sanford, Florida authorities seemed to be comfortable ignoring. There was no investigation, no confiscation of the murder weapon, not even a temporary arrest. They acted more like Zimmerman’s defense team than authorities seeking justice. Sabrina remained angelic as she insisted upon starting the wheels of justice to turn her son’s way. She made every meeting, spoke at so many rallies, addressed a lot of media—and never stopped her quest for justice.
When she appears before a camera, you can feel her heartbreak without her having to yell or scream what she is feeling. You don’t have to be a mother to share in her pain—and you cannot help but admire her dignity. Many of us could take lessons from her as she handles her grief before the world without anger.
She never tries to arouse indignation or rally people to express hate or disgust with a system that is not always fair. She just asks for justice. In the days to come, let us send up a prayer for the wheels of justice to give this mother just a little bit of hope that her son will not have died in vain.
(Dr. E. Faye Williams is National Chair of the National Congress of Black Women. www.nationalcongressbw.org. 202/678-6788)