Post date: Mar 25, 2012 11:6:56 PM
EATONVILLE, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (MARCH 25, 2012) - Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson addressed church goers in Florida on Sunday (March 25) where he called the slain 17-year old teenager, Trayvon Martin, a "martyr".
"How do we take the light of the martyr, Trayvon is martyr, he's not coming back, he's a martyr, murdered
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson calls slain teenager, Trayvon Martin a "martyr" at a Florida church as many churchgoers across the country attend service in hooded sweatshirts.
and martyred, and now we must illuminate the darkness with the light that comes from the martyr," Jackson said.
Dressed in a hooded sweatshirt, carrying a bag of Skittles candy, and an iced tea, the unarmed black teenager was shot dead on February 26 in Sanford, Florida, by a white neighborhood watch volunteer who deemed him suspicious.
Jackson told a crowd of 1,600 at Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church that Trayvon Martin represented "all of us".
Elsewhere in New York and Atlanta, Georgia, supporters of Martin staged events at churches, wearing hooded sweatshirts, like the one Martin was wearing when he was killed.
His death has set off a storm of rallies, and accusations of racism when the shooter was not arrested or charged.
29-year old George Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self defense.