Jordan says, “Mom, why did that man gun down Trayvon? He wasn’t doing anything. Why did he gun him down?” And it was just very disheartening to have to say to my son, “Baby, there are people in this country that do not value you as a young black male, that don’t value black men in this country. And you’ve got to be very careful where you go, what you do. You cannot walk freely in this country, like white America.”

. . . And I kept saying, “Jordan, in the event that you are in an argument or a verbal confrontation with anyone, stand down. Stand down, because nowadays . . .” And this is exactly what I said, “People will not use reasonable conflict resolution. They will take their guns out and they will shoot you.” And Jordan distinctly said, “Mom, that’s not gonna happen to me. That’s not gonna happen to me. I can take care of myself.” And there’s not a day that goes by that that conversation does not haunt at my heart and my soul, because in the end, no matter how much we did to protect him, to care for him, to raise him the way that we were supposed to raise him, in the end, in America, as a young black male, he was not free or safe.