By Kirsten West Savali ·November 6, 2020November 6, 2020
Eight years after Trayvon Martin’s death, the northern Miami-Dade community is honoring his life by naming a street after him, CBS Miami reports.
On Nov. 5, NE 16th Avenue from Ives Dairy Road to NE 209th Street, the street leading to Dr. Michael K. Krop Senior High where Trayvon was an 11th-grade student—was renamed Trayvon Martin Avenue.
“Our students every morning will come out here and see the name that bears Trayvon’s name, his name will continue forever,” Dr. Adam Kosnitzky, the school’s principal, said.
#Awesomeness official renaming of 199 st NE 16 avenue/Trayvon Martin Avenue, we are honored
special thx to Commissioner Jordan & the Board of Miami Dade County Commissioners https://t.co/cZhfayTFFx pic.twitter.com/o1JVvBZxQ7
— Sybrina Fulton (@SybrinaFulton) November 5, 2020
Though the teen lived in Miami Gardens, Florida, with his mother Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon was visiting his father Tracy Martin in Sanford, Florida, at the time of his death. On February 26, 2012, he was walking home from a convenience store when neighborhood vigilante George Zimmerman profiled, stalked, and fatally shot him.
Zimmerman was acquitted in 2013.
Trayvon’s death sparked the Black Lives Matter movement, as Black people and accomplices across the nation hoped for and worked toward justice. Dream Defenders, a civil rights organization formed in Florida in the wake of Trayvon’s death, became a national force. President Barack Obama said at the time, “You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”
“Just to have my son’s name on the street, it’s heartfelt,” Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, said at the street renaming ceremony, which was hosted by Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Jordan, who sponsored the resolution.
Part 2 pics#Awesomeness official renaming of 199 st NE 16 avenue/Trayvon Martin Avenue, we are honoredspecial thx to Commissioner Jordan & the Board of Miami Dade County Commissioners https://t.co/cZhfayTFFx pic.twitter.com/QTBj49IqjB
— Sybrina Fulton (@SybrinaFulton) November 6, 2020
“Although it keeps raining, just know that a brighter day is coming. The sun will shine again,” Sybrina Fulton, who in 2019 ran for Miami-Dade County Commission, District 1, said. “It’s a fight every day so I just thank people for continuing to support and just to know that people are still thinking of Trayvon Martin.”
TOPICS: Trayvon Martin
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