While addressing the inaugural hearing of the Congressional Caucus on Black Men and Boys on Wednesday, Tracy Martin, Trayvon Martin's father, vowed not to give up fighting for his son and other "black and brown boys" in the country, MSNBC reports.
"I vow to do everything in my power not to give up the fight for him, not only to fight for Trayvon, but to fight for so many other black and brown boys of this country," he said.
The hearing, titled "The Status of Black Males: Ensuring Our Boys Mature into Strong Men," was the first for the Caucus formed in March by Washington D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Danny Davis of Illinois.
Martin pointed to President Obama's Friday remarks on his son's story as a key catalyst for a national dialogue about young African-Americans in America.
"It's moments and comments such as the president made, that, you know, it sparks the conversation in every household over the dinner table," he said. "And that conversation is what can we do as parents, what can we do as men, what can we do as fathers, what can we do as mentors, to stop this from happening to your child. And I think that's where the conversation begins."
"We've taken that negative energy and we're trying to turn it into a positive," he continued. "A lot of people will tell you that nothing positive can come out of death but I disagree and I disagree wholeheartedly because it is what we can do tomorrow as a nation, as a people, to stop someone else's child from being killed."
"There's nothing we can do to bring Trayvon back, but if there's something we can do as a foundation to help other families from going through this, then we're here," he added.
Read more at MSNBC.