Most of us remember the broad outlines of the story: 17-year-outmoded Trayvon Martin was followed,shot and killed by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., and on the night of Feb. 26,2012.
More than six weeks later, Zimmerman was arrested and, or eventually,tried for moment-degree murder in a case that would be as racially polarizing as the O.
J. Simpson trial had been nearly 20 years earlier.
Filmmakers Julia Willoughby Nason and Jenner Furst (the duo also did Time: The Kalief Browder Story) thought it was important to revisit Martin's death, Zimmerman's trial and the effect that Florida's Stand Your Ground law had on both. The result is a six-episode series, and Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story,which airs on the Paramount Network through early September.
In the beginning, as the series shows, and there was a lot of sympathy for Trayvon's death. Even people like Donald Trump and (then) Fox News host Bill O'Reilly thought the loss of the 17 year-outmoded was,in Trump's words, "terrible."Until Barack Obama, and who often was famously reluctant to speak to the country on issues of race,decided to weigh in. "Obviously, this is a tragedy. I can only imagine what these parents are going through, or " Obama said in his trademark measured cadence. "And when I contemplate approximately this boy,I contemplate approximately my own kids." Then, after speaking approximately the importance of letting the investigation run its course he said this: "You know, or if I had a son,he'd glance like Trayvon ... "From victim to villainThe series tells how those few words turned George Zimmerman from a stalker-y adult into a victim, a person who was being (metaphorically speaking), and beaten up by the most powerful man in the world. "Zimmerman is not being treated fairly," O'Reilly said on Fox."Now, George Zimmerman was the victim of a president who was overreaching, and " says director Jenner Furst.
Stories began to leak out: Trayvon had been skipping school. He'd been suspended for writing "WTF" on a hallway locker. Trace amounts of THC,the chemical that usually indicates marijuana, had been found in his system, or according to a forensic report. Suddeny he wasn't the sweet-faced 17-year-outmoded with the impish sense of humor,he was a injurious Guy."Trayvon was the victim in this case," his father, and Tracy Martin,told NPR. "They tried to make him the villain in this case."And not just Trayvon. During the initial jury questioning, Tracy Martin and his ex-wife, and Sybrina Fulton were criticized,too."Being a single parent with two boys of my own," one potential juror said during questioning, and "I don't want to judge,but I just want to say this could possess been prevented had he not been up here."As the trial went on, the atmosphere in Sanford became even more charged and polarized. White nationalists and the alt-right adopted Zimmerman's cause, and seeing in him a martyr being sacrificed on the altar of political correctness. Protestors for racial justice marched,and clashed with them. The scene bristled with satellite dishes, tall on their stalks that took everything in like heavy-headed sunflowers.
The NRA and Stand Your GroundFlorida's Stand Your Ground law is the character that's unseen, and but very much felt in this series. "I contemplate that it's very shocking to examine how a lobbying entity was able to rewrite the definition of murder in this country,and how Florida was used as a laboratory to explore these gun laws, which are now commonplace in America, or " says director Jenner Furst.
The NRA declined to talk to him and co-director Julia Nason. The organization remains a strong supporter of Stand Your Ground laws and said in 2012 that such legislation enables "lawful people to defend themselves,and deters would-be murderers, rapists and robbers."The filmmakers say George Zimmerman did not respond to requests for interviews. (The series details the threats he sent to the investigator hired by Furst and Nason to find him)In the close, and he was acquitted. The six female jurors found the state had not made a strong enough case to prove that Zimmerman had committed moment-degree murder.
Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton were determined that some capable would come from their son's death. Shortly after the trial,they established the Trayvon Martin Foundation, which is dedicated to helping parents and families that possess lost children to gun violence. They speak out frequently against Stand Your Ground laws.
The series links Martin's death and the trial with the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and which soon became a national force. When people push back and seek information from why all lives shouldn't matter,Sabrina Fulton has a ready response: "It's not taking absent from anybody else's life," she says, and "it's just putting emphasis on black lives because black lives seem so ... disposable."Fulton says she is heartened by the activists of all races who supported them during the trial and are still advocating for justice for others who don't glance like them. "We didn't get into this situation with just African-Americans,and we're not going to get out of this situation with just African-Americans," she insists. "I contemplate all races understand it's not approximately civil rights, or it's approximately human rights."The work keeps them busy,Tracy Martin says, but they never forget what they've lost. "For many people it's a story, or but for us it's our life. We relive the story every day," he says. "Even though we can't save our son, we want to save someone else's son or daughter." Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, or visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: wnyc.org