Trayvon Martin's mother Sybrina Fulton is running for political office in Florida

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Sybrina Fulton speaks onstage at the National Town Hall on the second day of the 48th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation on September 13, 2018 in Washington, DC.

• Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, will be running for political office in Florida.
• Fulton will formally announce on Monday that she is vying for a seat for the Miami-Dade County commissioners, according to CNN.
• She will focus her campaign on issues including economic development,  affordable housing, and gun violence.
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Seven years after her sons death, the mother of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old boy who was gunned down by a neighborhood watchman in Florida, is running for office to help make her community safer.

Sybrina Fulton took to Instagram over the weekend to announce her campaign for the District 1 seat of the Miami-Dade County commissioners.

"Since 2012, I have advocated tirelessly to empower our communities and make them safer," Fulton wrote. "But the work is not done. I am proud to announce that I will run to represent District 1 on the county commission."

Fulton, who formerly worked at the county housing authority, will go up against Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert for the seat, which will be vacant in 2020 due to term limits.

Martin's death - and later the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who shot him - sparked national outrage, with Black Lives Matter emerging as a social justice movement focused on race and policing in the US. In the wake of Trayvon's death, his mother co-founded the Trayvon Martin Foundation to honor his life and bring awareness to gun violence. 

AP

Travon Martin.

Fulton's campaign manager, Willis Howard, told CNN that she will make a formal announcement on Monday. She will focus her campaign on issues including economic development,  affordable housing, and gun violence.

• "Our county must continue moving forward so our families are safe from violence, can afford to live in Miami-Dade, and have access to good paying jobs," Fulton told the Miami Herald in a statement. "I am ready to take on these issues and many others in county government."
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