Trayvon Martin Symbol Analysis

Trayvon Martin symbolizes Patrisse’s belief that Black lives don’t matter (to policymakers, the criminal justice system, or fellow citizens) in the U.S. Trayvon was a 17-year-old young Black man from Florida whom a neighborhood watchman fatally shot in 2012 while Trayvon was walking home at night. For Patrisse, Trayvon’s death represents the unjust killing of Black people more generally, and she uses it to support her argument that Black lives historically haven’t mattered and still don’t matter in the U.S.

Patrisse suggests that Trayvon Martin’s case was not the first or the last time a Black American was unjustly killed, but that his story nevertheless represents this disturbing trend. The case gained traction because many people believed that Trayvon’s killer was clearly at fault based on the available evidence. Patrisse maintains that Trayvon is one of many examples of young Black men being wrongfully stereotyped as violent and dangerous, and that he was simply walking home with a hood on, carrying snacks he’d just bought, when he was killed. Furthermore, when Trayvon’s killer called the police to report Trayvon, he disobeyed the police dispatcher’s request to leave Trayvon alone.

Patrisse describes how Black community organizers across the U.S. raised awareness about Trayvon’s story via rallies and the media before the killer’s trial began. Still, it wasn’t until after Trayvon’s killer was found not guilty of all charges in July 2013 that Trayvon became a symbol for Black victims of violence whose lives did not matter to other people. In this way, his story became the impetus for Patrisse launching the Black Lives Matter movement.