The tragic events that have been rooted in judgment and ignorance have claimed the lives of numerous unarmed men and women of color in the past few years. Fortunately, through the dark storms of hate, we here at Black Enterprise are proud to bring a slight ray of good news in the form of Jahvaris Fulton celebrating his graduation from Florida International University.
The older brother of slain Sanford, Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was able to commemorate this moment of achievement in higher education alongside his father, Tracy Martin. Fulton, 22, has made the best of his opportunities since losing his little brother to violence. Prior to graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Jahvaris served as a congressional intern for Florida Representative Frederica Wilson.
Wilson, a founder of 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project, also counts Fulton as a member who helped to encourage at-risk in Miami-Dade schools to stay in school.
Recently, Jahvaris and Trayvon’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, spoke on CNN’s Anderson Cooper show to highlight the wide breadth of miscommunication that exists between persons of color and white America. “It’s not happening to them, so they don’t quite get it,†she told Cooper in an interview that aired Friday. “They don’t quite understand. They think that it’s a small group of African Americans that’s complaining: ‘Oh, what are they complaining about now?’â€
With her son, Jahvaris Fulton, a college graduate, a success in higher academia, we here at Black Enterprise applaud the merits of someone striving past strife and commend his family on such a triumphant occasion.
We weren’t the only ones though, as Twitter took time out to congratulate the 22-year-old graduate on fulfilling the dreams his brother never got a chance to achieve.