How Trayvon Martin’s death led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement – WESH 2 Orlando

On April 9, 2012, people marched 40 miles from Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach to the Sanford Police Department.The march marked 40 days after Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman and no arrest was made. "We didn't pick the name 'Dream Defenders' for no reason. We understand what 'defender' means. We defend justice, we defend our generation, and we defend the world at large," Vanessa Baden said.The Dream Defenders name was created after Trayvon's death, but this group had been marching for justice for years. "But then in 2006, when a young Black boy named Martin Lee Anderson was brutally beaten to death in a juvenile boot camp, Ben responded to the call of, you know, being able to represent the family from a legal perspective, he was able to take the hands of the family and walk them right into the governor's office and demanding more from our elected officials. But Ben couldn't do that without a groundswell of grassroots activism and support," founder Ahmad Abuznaid said.Since Martin Lee Anderson died while at a work camp for troubled teens, this group formed under the guidance of Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump. What they didn't know is the movement they kicked off in Sanford would grow and spread and pop up in communities across the nation, and create what's now known as Black Lives Matter. "I think we were one of those core organizations that went on to create this movement for Black lives network. And we're really proud of that work now. We can't do it on our own. And, and also Florida was really the home of Dream Defenders. And so while we really had a lot of national involvement and conversation and national building, we were most impactful here in Florida. So I'm incredibly proud of the advancement Dream Defenders and Florida organizing across the board has given us over the last 10 years," Abuznaid said.There were fears the movement that began in Sanford would turn violent. Thousands of people were expected to march through the streets and gather in Fort Mellon Park. Civil rights leaders were set to speak, with the family of Trayvon Martin joining them demanding an arrest. But there was no violence, only peaceful protest. "You seen thousands rally in the state of Florida, but also, you know, thousands, and tens of thousands rally across the country. And we saw similar iterations after the uprisings in Ferguson. And we saw similar iterations after the murder of George Floyd," Abuznaid said.While Abuznaid and the Dream Defenders don't take sole credit for the BLM movement, they do know their role helped inspire a nation to hold people accountable. And their hope is organizations like theirs and others aren't needed in the future. "Abolition of slavery seemed insane to people at the times where slavery was operating. Abolition of Jim Crow laws, was insane to people when Blacks and whites were still segregated lunch counters in schools. And so right now people may think it's insane to demand, you know, abolition of certain structures and systems that have continued to show us that they're not solving the problem they were created to solve for," Abuznaid said.

On April 9, 2012, people marched 40 miles from Bethune Cookman College in Daytona Beach to the Sanford Police Department.

The march marked 40 days after Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman and no arrest was made.

"We didn't pick the name 'Dream Defenders' for no reason. We understand what 'defender' means. We defend justice, we defend our generation, and we defend the world at large," Vanessa Baden said.

The Dream Defenders name was created after Trayvon's death, but this group had been marching for justice for years.

"But then in 2006, when a young Black boy named Martin Lee Anderson was brutally beaten to death in a juvenile boot camp, Ben responded to the call of, you know, being able to represent the family from a legal perspective, he was able to take the hands of the family and walk them right into the governor's office and demanding more from our elected officials. But Ben couldn't do that without a groundswell of grassroots activism and support," founder Ahmad Abuznaid said.

Since Martin Lee Anderson died while at a work camp for troubled teens, this group formed under the guidance of Civil Rights Attorney Ben Crump.

What they didn't know is the movement they kicked off in Sanford would grow and spread and pop up in communities across the nation, and create what's now known as Black Lives Matter.

"I think we were one of those core organizations that went on to create this movement for Black lives network. And we're really proud of that work now. We can't do it on our own. And, and also Florida was really the home of Dream Defenders. And so while we really had a lot of national involvement and conversation and national building, we were most impactful here in Florida. So I'm incredibly proud of the advancement Dream Defenders and Florida organizing across the board has given us over the last 10 years," Abuznaid said.

There were fears the movement that began in Sanford would turn violent. Thousands of people were expected to march through the streets and gather in Fort Mellon Park. Civil rights leaders were set to speak, with the family of Trayvon Martin joining them demanding an arrest. But there was no violence, only peaceful protest.

"You seen thousands rally in the state of Florida, but also, you know, thousands, and tens of thousands rally across the country. And we saw similar iterations after the uprisings in Ferguson. And we saw similar iterations after the murder of George Floyd," Abuznaid said.

While Abuznaid and the Dream Defenders don't take sole credit for the BLM movement, they do know their role helped inspire a nation to hold people accountable. And their hope is organizations like theirs and others aren't needed in the future.

"Abolition of slavery seemed insane to people at the times where slavery was operating. Abolition of Jim Crow laws, was insane to people when Blacks and whites were still segregated lunch counters in schools. And so right now people may think it's insane to demand, you know, abolition of certain structures and systems that have continued to show us that they're not solving the problem they were created to solve for," Abuznaid said.

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How Trayvon Martin's death led to the birth of the Black Lives Matter movement - WESH 2 Orlando