Thinking about now five years later when these traumatic events happened to your family five years ago . Each year when his birthday comes round which was february 5, it reminds us what were missing out on. We didnt get a chance to watch him graduate from high school or see him go off to college go to the prom i think and who he would have mary at 22 is fairly young but he wouldve been graduating from college like his brother did. I just think about all the good times we shared with him and knowing those cannot be taken away from us. As parents you want to see your children do something productive in life and so we definitely wouldve been hoping for college and born on just a sea of to see him raise his own family those are the things i think about all the time. You opened your book by talking about the question you remember getting, who was Trayvon Martin. One thing i enjoyed about the book was learning more about how he was raised, what his interests were, so much as been written about your son, can you tell us about who Trayvon Martins tell us about. Thats one of the reasons why we wrote the book. We wanted our point of view and the parents point of view, a lot of times the books written did not even know Trayvon Martin know who he was. We want to put the name with the person in teenager and so Trayvon Martins very affectionate. He didnt care where he was, it couldve been in the the grocery store, at the school of park, if he wanted to hug and kiss he got it. He didnt mind people who is around him like a lot of times when they are litter we always kissed him whether girls or boys. We always kiss them. But as he got older it didnt face him that people were around. He was very affectionate. He felt like he wanted to do everything for me. Thats where the name cupcake came from. He was a good kid. He just was a good person to be around. Kind of funny, but just really affectionate. I think you do so well in the book walking through what this experience must be for her parents. We have a long list of names and cases that have boiled up and got national that people talk about. One of the things is a reporter and and covering those i have good relationships with families and i feel like the coverage misses some of that, making phone calls and realizing hes not there and figuring out whats happening. I think you tell the story of Trayvon Martin and also what its like to be a grieving parents. One thing i noticed as you talk about gun violence very broadly. Not just those being killed, i know in your circle of mothers and other groups its people have been killed by street gun violence and other things. Can you talking about being the elder statesman of this group of parents, what it was like for you and what you hear from other parents this unique experience of losing a son or daughter this way. One thing you find out through a traumatic experience with other parents who have lost children to selfless gun violence or any kind of violence you find out how strong people are. We as parents did not want to bury her child so to bury your child do something too emotionally. We we know that we will all die, its just a fact that we as parents invested 17 years into Trayvon Martin and not to see that life progress any further is hurtful. In conversation with other parents i personally always tell them that i know what you are going through but i dont understand your hurts. Each parent has a different relationship with their child. For instance mike brown, i understand what his parents are going through but i dont understand the hurt because i dont know the relationship the head. I know the relationship i had with Trayvon Martin and so i understand my hurt and her hurt. But its a fraternity, so to speak that no one wants to be a part of. We do not sign up for this, but since it has been thrust on us we understand theres a Bigger Picture than something more important than just the death of our son. There are other lives out there that were trying to impact and say. So be in the elder statesman so to speak, i think we have taken on the role and we understand the role of what it is and how it is to assist other families. Part of it was the structure of how it was written chronologically telling the story and as i read it i read the story of Trayvon Martin and his death but also of two partners to people who are working together even though they were not married at the time their partners and raising Children Together and while still functionally close their brought further back together. Talk about the relationship you have had in terms of being an elite spokesperson of your son and the pursuit of justice and what that was like to have this bond together as parents of this child. I think the common focus we had with the children. We knew even though our relationship didnt work out we had to have a relationship with the children. We stayed focused on being parents. It made it easy for us to raise them because we werent fighting back and forth. So you pick up this time and i didnt really have a problem with the so it worked out and a lot of people think its strange that we get along so well because i guess a lot of divorce couples dont get along. I think we have always been civilized to each other. We dont always get along, but for the most part we come together for the betterment of the kids. We managed to do that in spite of what were going through. We decided that was best for the children. You were still in miami and tracy were in stanford at the time. One passage i wanted to know was this piece in the book where you first arrive and i thought it was a telling but emotional moment. You talk in the book about not even knowing if you wanted to go. You can imagine any mother i think of my own mother what she would be going through thinking. I remember being struck by the passage into the complex were trey vann was killed. We turn the corner for the first time i could see the community where he was killed. It was a Clean Development beyond the gate i saw something that shook me, a memorial. I had to look twice to see that it was a memorial for my son. Footballs, teddy bears, signs, cards and letters, signs, cards and letters with a name Trayvon Martin. Everything in tribute to my angel. That touched me deeply in a way that police did not. The memorial was a gift. Strangers telling us through the small tokens that they knew the body on the ground was a boy, human, life and his killing would not be forgotten. Was at the moment you realize that other people were going through this grief with you . What did it feel like to feel both through the memorial and through the rallies and the activism to see the support you start gaining from the nation . I think that was the first public sign that people were supporting us. It did not give me a gauge of how many people were in support of us. That did touch me because i was not expecting it. So to pull that in and see the memorial it reminded me this is the spot in the area. This is the surrounding that he was in, i had never been there. But i think what really hit me hard was that in new york when we were at the valleys when we actually saw the amount of people that came out to support us. The memorial touch my heart, but the million hoodie rally touch not only my heart but my mind and it made me think about how many other people this happened to a nobody heard about their name. So i think the meat name Trayvon Martin represents not just to Trayvon Martins but all young black and brown boys and some girls as well that have been killed and nobody has been held accountable. So it definitely was an important part of the movement an important part of the journey, i have so much respect for people who supported us. You said strangers defended on our cause like angels. In addition to the student side view of what this must be like as a parent was to also see the players who come in overtime. Your first conversations whether it be jasmine or Natalie Jackson , can you talk a little bit about very often for a casual viewer or reader someone who just knows the name Trayvon Martin and knows the case loosely, they dont necessarily see the pieces that come into play terms of they see a rally but dont know who was involved. Can you talk about how some of these people who perhaps you guys are right flee the face of your sons break legacy, but how they play a role in turning what couldve been the death of a young man into a name that rings out across the nation. I think we are a majority of the recognition that the name Trayvon Martin received from a Family Member whose name was Patricia Jones because without patricia we would not have been in contact with the attorney who played a very Important Role in bringing justice and bringing light to our case. So when i first talked to the attorney automatically he told me that there would be an arrest when i explained the case to him. When trey vann was killed walking home with a tin of skittles on the first thing he said is there would be an arrest and i continue to call him and call him and he finally answered the phone and i told him and said they had not made an arrest yet and so the attorney basically stopped what he was doing and immediately start putting things into place, the first lawyer that we actually saw was jasmine who came down to sabrinas place and we had a conversation with her and it was strange when we met jackson because our son was killed by a nonblack so the first person that walks into the house to represent the family is a white woman. It kind of threw me for a minute and then she opened her mouth and her conversation began as we will do everything we can to assist you in the attorney would become men down and speaking with us. So so jasmine played an important part, the attorney both played a huge part and still do and the things that we do. Ryan jolson played a huge part. With all of those components working together and they were working day in and day out and natalie had inside scoops with the newsroom that helped us out in a big way. Those are major components to our strategy to get justice and get an arrest. Would also struck you was the way you had to campaign for justice in various different phases and its easy to consolidate years later for walking through the book we see campaign after Campaign Starting with the release of the 911 tapes. Before you are asking why hasnt he been arrested for one of the first big things push for publicly was to release the tapes. But this interaction what was it like and what was going through your head at the time where you have been played the tape one time for the initial interview but the public has unheard in the family has unheard it, the the moment youre trying to figure out there some evidence that might help us to code what happened to her son but why wont they give it to us. What were you thinking in those first few days . For the most part when we realize they were not going to give us the 911 tapes we automatically our notion was that there is a coverup on there something going on because theyre fighting so hard not to release the tapes and now we were saying is release the tapes and let the public hear it and theres so much, so much of a fight we had to file an injunction to get the tapes released in the mayor of stanford finally decided to release the tapes but knowing that it was a fight to get them released we knew there something on those that characterized what happened that night. You write about the first time at city hall listening to the tapes of the 911 colors who are witnesses to the altercation. You read about the pain and difficulty of listening to them but one thing struck was the mayor coming out afterwards and providing you comfort. You heard these tapes as a father would, what was your relationship with whether it be the elected or pleasing officials think theres an assumption that there must be a full relationship. I was also struck by moments of humanity when people would not assume the mayor of stanford to be an ally or comforter of yours. But there was a moment of humanity. I think during the time a lot of people were torn between if they stand up for their community or they support what is right i think with the mayor the humane side came out and even though he seemed to be this strong govern body for stanford, he still a father. He probably thought about trey vann being his own son. So that touched him a great deal. Not only him, there were also when we went to the trial there was also Court Deputies and Police Officers that would tell us that they are in support of us. So they were torn between what side they had to stand on. We want people to stand on the right side. We want people to see trey vann as an on arm 17yearold, which are the facts. He was not committing any crime and we say that all the time. He was not carrying a weapon even though the defense brought in a slab of concrete and said this was the weapon he use. Thats ridiculous. Just everything that went on and may people want to choose a side. If you look at the facts, trey vann was not paying attention to her surroundings. He was on the telephone. It is clear that the killer of trey vann was asked not to pursue him. Dont follow him. But you can hear he was clearly following him. At some point in time trey vann even ran. And this person ran after him. To me i would feel like im being stocked. I would feel like why are you following me what is it why youre following. So for some time we thought it was the hoodie but we know in hindsight it was because of the color of his skin. Even though they couldnt bring it in at the trial we know its clear and thats what happened. It sends a bad message to our young men and women that you cant walk down the street on the telephone, you dont know whether to walk faster slow whether you should speak or not, theres so many things that have to go through and they dont feel safe in their own community and country. There is this moment where geraldo was saying the hoodie is the problem and theres a line we talked about where he couldve taken the hoodie off but he cannot take his skin off. That was one of the things that felt so compelling about the story. I was in college and i remember reading these columns and articles been written and thinking to myself, i grew up in cleveland get how many times was i Walking Around going to the corner so always wearing a hoodie. And how easily could this have happened. Here jordan davis talk about this that theres this sin of black skin that children can do everything rights and in this instance there still may be this person lurking in will be suspicious of them. The judge ruled in the trial that racial profiling cannot be used in you talk in the book about the evolution of your thinking of it initially does race factor in, theres some discomfort at the beginning with people using the terms race but by the ends i appreciate you walking us through the thinking is you are seeing the parts of the case come together and you say what else could it have been. With this steady drumbeat be an added what role do you think it played in the death of your son . I think it played a major role. And it goes back to the 911 tapes. Theyre saying it was one thing he said in we realized it was Something Else the killer of our son was saying on the tapes. And he had the perception that all black and brown young men were up to no good. He said in the tape this guys up to no good, how can you be up to no good when youre walking home from the store. And so we knew that race played a part. We want this to be a case where its an unjust killing. We tried to look at it from a dual lens and say may be race didnt play a part. The further we went in the trial and we saw come out in the jury pool selection, we saw come out in some of the things the Defense Attorneys were saying. By the end of the trial we knew it was about race. Race played a huge part in our sons death. Anybody who says it did not play a part didnt look at the trial. I think theres an experience very often when black men and women would talk about their experiences white audiences dont get it. They dont understand what its like to be followed around or to be stocked by someone and someone who feel suspicious of you by your presence. Have you entry vann had conversations about that and what were your feelings . You are watching your son go through this even after his death being cast and stereotyped in certain ways. What were your feelings as a black man. It was hurtful knowing that we are just the thought of how people think about us and how they think we are less than 100 human is crazy to know that i work with you, i pay the same taxes that you pay, i shop at the same stores as you do but your perception of me is that i am not good enough to stand in line with you. Its very hurtful, especially when you have a 17yearold that you know you have invested a lot in and you taught him everything the dos and donts of the laws of this land. But just to have a person that dont know him make comments about him and demoralize him, it was hurtful. At the same time we know the things they were saying were not true. We knew who he was not only is our son but as an africanamerican young man, we knew who he was. The second phase the first raises trey vanns death the second pushes to arrest George Zimmerman, this idea that this man has killed your son and has been allowed to sleep in his own bed and be free, this ongoing question of are they going to file charges. They going to bring in a prosecutor. Bring us through what that second push was. With the idea that here you are, the parents of young man essentially having to campaign for justice for your child. The whole time is a grieving parent that was our focus. It was to try to get justice for trey vann. All of the obstacles were placed in our path. What parent do you know that has a 17yearold that if something happens to them they would not want answers. We were not asking for anything any other parent would not have wanted for their own child. But people dont see that. People dont see things because theyre not going through those things. Theyd rather sit behind the computer complain about something that they dont know anything about. I just feel like everything was a struggle. Getting the information about wh