MIAMI _ Before the end of the year, the drive to a high school that Trayvon Martin attended should include a reminder of his name.
Miami-Dade commissioners this week approved adding Martin's name to the part of Northeast 16th Avenue that leads to Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High, where Martin was in 11th grade when he was fatally shot in 2012 while on a visit with his father in Sanford. He was 17, unarmed and walking back from a convenience store with candy, and shot by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer.
Martin's death sparked a nationwide movement for racial justice, under the banner of "Black Lives Matter."
It pushed Martin's mother into politics. Sybrina Fulton campaigned with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential election, and in August came within fewer than 350 votes of beating Miami Gardens Mayor Oliver Gilbert for the District 1 seat on the County Commission.
Martin became a national symbol of the suspicions and racial profiling that can follow Black boys and young men when they're walking alone at night. Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter after claiming self defense in the incident.
The motion approved unanimously by commissioners without discussion includes a focus on Martin's life as a teenager in the Miami Gardens area, where he lived with Fulton.
"Trayvon Martin was a typical teenager who enjoyed playing video games, listening to music, watching movies, and talking and texting on the phone," read the resolution, whose primary sponsor was Commissioner Barbara Jordan, the outgoing District 1 commissioner.
Martin "was also developing advanced mechanical skills and, among other things, was known to be able to build and fix dirt bikes ... Martin intended to stay close to home and attend college at either the University of Miami or Florida A&M University."
The county resolution adds Martin's name to Northeast 16th Avenue between Ives Dairy Road and Northeast 209th Street.
That portion of the county-owned road will be called "Trayvon Martin Avenue." Miami-Dade's Public Works Department said the new signs should be up within a few weeks of the resolution being distributed. A resolution takes effect 10 days after passage.
