Trayvon Martin's Parents To Write Memoir About Son's Life
Four years since Trayvon Martin's death at the hands of George Zimmerman, and not much has changed. Black people are still being shot by police officers across the country, with some having survived but many of them killed. However, in Martin's absence is a movement that he indirectly birthed: the Black Lives Matter movement. This, as well as Martin's life, will be discussed in an upcoming memoir written by his parents.
According to the Hollywood Reporter the book, titled Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin, is going to be written by Martin's parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. They've signed a deal with Random House's One World, a publishing wing headed by Christopher Jackson, one of the most prolific African American editors in publishing today.
"It first brings Trayvon back to life as the full, three-dimensional, complex kid he was, through his parents' eyes," Jackson told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview. "Then to the dark and confusing days following his death, which slowly transform into the blossoming of a powerful, historic movement for change and healing that we're still watching unfold five years later."
The book will be released on January 31, 2017, several days before what would have been Trayvon's 22nd birthday on February 5. The fifth anniversary of Martin's killing will occur three weeks later, on February 26.
Martin was shot by Zimmerman, who was initially not charged with any crime. But after national media drew attention to the case, Zimmerman was tried and acquitted of second degree murder, because the prosecution couldn't effectively challenge his self defense claim made under the state's stand your ground law.
Rest in Power will give Martin's parents the opportunity to reclaim their story, and celebrate the life of their child that was taken away from them too soon.
"Everyone who's been reading the manuscript is in tears by the second chapter," Jackson said. "It's not just about the mournful story about losing a child, but it's also how that moment ignited this global movement."
