After 10 years, young activists remember Trayvon Martin's killing like it was yesterday

Central Florida Public Media | By Talia Blake

Published February 23, 2022 at 8:59 AM EST

A sign being held at the rally in Sanford for Trayvon Martin in 2012. Saturday marks 10 years since his murder. (via: Werth Media).

Trayvon Martin鈥檚 death 10 years ago impacted the world and changed the lives of many.

Orlando activist Miles Mulrain Jr. and Angela Herrera, who helped organize Orlando鈥檚 2020 protests over George Floyd, speak about how the Martin case impacted their lives and the role of social media.

WMFE鈥檚 Talia Blake (left) speaking with Angela Herrera (middle), and Miles Mulrain Jr. (right)

It Feels Like It Just Happened

Miles Mulrain Jr. and Angela Herrera remember Trayvon Martin鈥檚 death like it was yesterday.

Herrera was heading into high school at the time, 鈥淚 was definitely too young to get involved politically or actively attend any protests. However, this was one of the first times where I saw the impact this had on my community and all my friends.鈥�

But, Mulrain was in his early 20s when Trayvon was killed.

鈥淥ne of my first experiences with anything close to activism was going to the rally in Sanford. I remember putting on my hoodie and saying, 鈥業 am Trayvon鈥� and feeling so enraged,鈥� Mulrain said.

鈥淩eliving the kind of thoughts of how close to age we were at that time, and how that could have been me or my little brother,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was something that hit hard.鈥�

The Talk

After Trayvon was killed in 2012, Mulrain said his mother began to worry about him as he was in his early 20s at the time.

鈥淪he worried about what happened to me or the Stand Your Ground law that everybody was talking about how it could be used against people of color,鈥� Mulrain explained. 鈥淚t was just a scary moment.鈥�

鈥淚 remember everybody in my family feeling vulnerable. And telling every black man they knew, (and) every black boy to just be careful, because you can see what can happen.鈥�

Mulrain grew up in Central Florida. For him, the way Tryavon鈥檚 killing was handled opened his eyes to the area he resides.

鈥淎nd me being in my early 20s. I knew that there would be no less sympathy for me if there was no less sympathy for Trayvon.鈥�

The Role of Social Media

Social media played a big role in bringing attention to Trayvon Martin鈥檚 case. His pictures began to circulate on Facebook and Twitter.

According to the Pew Research Center, The #BlackLivesMatter hashtag first appeared on Twitter five years ago in July 2013 following the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

Activists like Angela Herrera are still using social media today to fight social injustice. She said social media is a powerful tool, especially for millennials and Gen Z, to help spread information and get people involved.

Herrera said without social media, it can be hard to get involved with some organizations.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to call these organizations,鈥� she explained. 鈥淵ou could literally go on your phone, look, for an event. Just show up right then and there. The information is literally in my hands, It makes it more accessible.鈥�

Not only can you use social media to spread information about events and where you can take physical action, but Miles Mulrain Jr. adds that you can also make a call to action online.

鈥淵ou might put out a call for people to call a certain phone number, email, or write a letter,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd you can see the power of social media, especially with petitions and different things that you can actually get paper trails.鈥�

Everyone鈥檚 schedule is different and some people can鈥檛 make it to physically support an issue. 鈥淪o instead, they may have to support through a phone call, a donation, or just showing up and dropping off water bottles and going back to work.鈥�

Has there been progress?

When it comes to any progress made in the 10 years since Trayvon Martin鈥檚 killing, Miles Mulrain Jr. sees it as a double-edged sword.

鈥淚 think that we鈥檝e seen people the individual person has maybe become more aware and maybe has taken more action,鈥� said Mulrain. 鈥淏ut at the same time, you鈥檝e seen more people become desensitized to it, or it鈥檚 just another incident that鈥檚 taking place. And people sometimes feel like it鈥檚 pointless to keep fighting, if they don鈥檛 see immediate change.鈥�

Miles said social media can be great鈥ut not all the time. 鈥淪ometimes you can just make an issue, not as important as it should be, because you have an issue that takes place one week in a city. And then next week, another issue happens that overshadows it. And people kind of jumped from trends like they do social medias.鈥�

However, Angela Herrera doesn鈥檛 think we鈥檝e made progress that she鈥檇 like to see.

鈥淛ust in the past year, the amount of police killings did not change from 2020 to 2021. And that just tells you a whole lot,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e protesting, we are advocating, but why is that number still the same?鈥�

Herrera agrees with Mulrain that more people are aware of the problem and that鈥檚 great. 鈥淏ut we can鈥檛 forget that what we鈥檙e advocating for is for reform, and we are yet to see that. And if we are seeing it鈥檚 happening slow. We have to continue pushing for it.鈥�

Mulrain and Herrera both hope that 10 years from now, we鈥檙e not still discussing new names. Instead, they hope to talk about how 鈥渨e stopped having so many names added to the hash tags鈥� and 鈥渋t鈥檚 not a trend that people only care when something horrible happens that people care 24/7.鈥�