Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin
Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin is a non-fiction book written by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, the parents of Trayvon Martin, a teenager whose death by shooting drew nationwide protests against racial violence.
Summary
Rest in Power was written nearly five years after the killing of Trayvon Martin. Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, says the book is intended as a means to heal, to share with the world the Trayvon Martin his parents knew and loved, and to describe the impact Martin's death and surrounding events had on their lives.The book is introduced by Fulton who states "no one gets over the death of a child." She describes how prior to the incident, she felt she was just another "anonymous" American who goes through life in a predictable rhythm of work, school, church and picnics. But after the death of Trayvon, she became an activist working to prevent other senseless gun violence. But this activism "failed to prevent the death of Jordan Davis, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner as well as countless others".
Fulton goes on to discuss her son Trayvon and how before he became a "martyr" and "symbol of racial injustice", he was simply a boy growing up trying to find his way in life. She reflects on her own life growing up, meeting and marrying Tracy Martin, and raising Trayvon together.
The rest of the book alternates between Fulton and Tracy Martin as they discuss being forced out of their lives as ordinary Americans and into the spotlight because of death of their son and the events that followed.