Trayvon Martin Remembered On Oscar Night As Celebrities Salute Slain Teen
Sunday marks five years to the day that Trayvon Martin was killed by George Zimmerman.
On such a macabre fifth anniversary, certain celebrities are honoring the slain teen’s life during a time when most of Hollywood’s attention is directed at the 89th Academy Awards ceremony, taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday night. The spirit of “Hoodies up,” the social media protest slogan sparked by Trayvon’s shocking 2012 death, remains strong among a respected group of Hollywood entertainers.
Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by insurance underwriter George Zimmerman on the night of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. After a heady and heavily publicized trial, Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder in relation to the shooting on July 13, 2013. Martin was just 17-years-old when he was killed. On Sunday, the fifth anniversary of his death, numerous stars took to social media to offer their remembrances for Trayvon.
As reported by USA Today, a handful of celebrities are honoring Trayvon Martin five years after his death. On Sunday evening, Scandal star Kerry Washington took to Instagram to pay her respects to the late Martin. Posting a photo of herself wearing a gray “Trayvon” hoodie, Washington wrote that “our hoodies are still up.” The Instagram post from Kerry was amended with the hashtag, “Our son Travyon,” and offered a link to buy the displayed hoodie.
“5 years later our hoodies are still up because the movement is still strong!”
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According to Entertainment Weekly, entertainers such as Sophia Bush, Tracee Ellis Ross, Gabrielle Union, and Lauren Jauregui are also paying their respects to Martin online. Actress Regina King, best known for supporting roles in films like Jerry Maguire, Mighty Joe Young and her five-year stretch on seminal NBC sitcom 227, likewise posted an Instagram selfie be-hooded in “Trayvon” swag. King notes that “too many more hash tags have followed.”
“On the fifth anniversary of Martin’s death, celebrities have taken to social media to pay their respects.”
Elsewhere online, director Ava DuVernay — the award-winning filmmaker currently at the helm of the upcoming, big-budget A Wrinkle in Time adaptation — tweeted out her support for Martin and his posthumous movement while on the way to the Oscars. DuVernay also posed with the trademark “Trayvon” hoodie.
On my way to #Oscars. Taking a moment to remember #TrayvonMartin. Our hoodies are still up and the movement is still strong. #OurSonTrayvon pic.twitter.com/PdxuXMktOg
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) February 26, 2017
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As reported by the Washington Post, director DuVernay is up for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature award at Sunday night’s Oscars ceremony. The nomination is for her recent Netflix film, 13th, an exploration of “race, justice, and mass incarceration in the United States,” according to the doc’s promotional materials. 13th was released worldwide on October 7, 2016, to predominately positive reviews.
Trayvon Martin was born on February 5, 1995, in Miami, Florida. At the time of the altercation that would take his life, he was a junior at Miami-Dade’s Dr. Michael M. Krop High School. Immediately prior to Zimmerman’s fatal shooting of Martin, the young student was walking back to his father’s house in the Twin Lakes neighborhood of Sanford after having visited a local convenience store to pick up Skittles and a fruit juice beverage.
Are you remembering Trayvon Martin on this day, five years after he was killed? Let us know your thoughts on Trayvon and his enduring celebrity social media vigils in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images]
