Trayvon Martin's mother to speak at Penn in January

Sybrina Fulton , mother of the late Trayvon Martin, and civil rights leader Michael Skolnik will speak at Penn next January as part of a week-long commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.

Fulton and Skolnik will speak at an event called “Love in a Time of Horror,” hosted by the Office of the Chaplain and the African-American Resource Center, which focuses on black youths’ struggle for civil rights, justice and healing amid police violence.

?“To have Ms. Fulton visit our university will not only be a tremendous honor, but it’s a powerful opportunity for healing and hope during a very difficult time in the U.S. and around the world,” University Chaplain Charles Howard said. “What she has been able to do in the face of the violence and pain that her family has faced is an amazing and beautiful model that I think Penn students, faculty and staff will be blessed to witness.”

Fulton and Tracy Martin, Trayvon’s father, founded the Trayvon Martin Foundation, a nonprofit that provides support and advocacy to families that have been impacted by violent crime, after their son was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in 2012.

Michael Skolnik serves on the Board of Directors for the Trayvon Martin Foundation and spearheaded a media campaign to draw public attention to racial tensions and the death of Trayvon Martin in 2012, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and other media outlets. He frequently participates in panel discussions at different universities and rallies and is hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons’s political director and is the president of “hip-pop” website Globalgrind.com, which draws over 4.5 million viewers a month.

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