When 17-year old Trayvon Martin was shot to death in 2012 by Florida neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, he became a symbol of a burgeoning “Black Lives Matter” movement, a flashpoint in a national conversation about race relations and use of force and a martyr to a cause.
Posterized images of Trayvon donning a hoodie became synonymous with rallying cries against what activists called police brutality and institutionalized racism. Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder, and Trayvon became part of a movement greater than himself.