OGDEN — With all the political upheaval in the country, with different identity groups subject to regular harassment, Sybrina Fulton preaches a message of respect as the antidote.

"I'm going to respect you and hopefully, you'll respect me, too. That's how that works. It's no magical potion," she said Wednesday at Weber State University, a part of Black History Month activities at the Ogden school. "When you respect me, I'm going to respect you."

Fulton's son, Trayvon Martin, 17, was shot and killed in 2012 while walking through a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood by George Zimmerman, prompting a national uproar. Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch captain where Trayvon was walking, had called the police to report Trayvon, who was Black, and a confrontation between the two ensued, leading to the teen's death.

The incident sparked a national debate about racial profiling and stand-your-ground self-defense laws and Fulton has become an author and speaker focused on "transforming family tragedy into social change," according to the American Program Bureau, her agency. During her stop in Ogden, Fulton spoke of her struggles in dealing with her son's death and stressed the importance of respect and recognizing the humanity in each other in building better communities. Her Utah visit coincided with the 13th anniversary of Trayvon's Feb. 26, 2012, killing.

"We are all human beings. Can we agree on that? And as human beings, we have to learn to respect each other," regardless of religion, social status, skin color, sexual orientation or other personal identifiers, she said. "We all have families. We all love. We all hate. We all need to learn how to just communicate and live among each other without being disrespectful, without being rude."

Being respectful doesn't necessarily mean loving everyone you encounter, she went on.

"I don't think it's something we can all do, is love one another. So that's the reason why I was very deliberate in what I was saying. I said respect, which is something different. I can respect you without loving you," she said, later using President Donald Trump as an example. "I can't say that I love him. I can't say that I hate him. But I respect him."

Three Weber State entities, the Lindquist College of Arts and Humanity, Stewart Library and the Student Success Center, sponsored Fulton's talk.

'I have my ups and downs'

Zimmerman acknowledged shooting Martin in the 2012 confrontation, but said it was in self-defense, according to CNN. He was charged with second-degree murder but found not guilty by a Florida jury in 2013.

In the wake of her son's killing and the national tumult that followed Zimmerman's acquittal, Fulton, who has another son, Jahvaris Fulton, said she has good and bad days. She co-founded the Trayvon Martin Foundation along with Tracy Martin, Trayvon's dad, to raise awareness about gun violence and to promote social justice, a role she never expected.

"Yes I have my ups and downs, but by the same token, I still have to live. I have another son. I have family. I have friends. I want to enjoy life as well," she said. Her late son, Fulton said, was a "momma's boy," liked babies, played football and loved eating food.

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At the same time, the death of Trayvon and Zimmerman's acquittal sticks with her.

"My son was 17 years old, unarmed, and this 28-year-old man with a loaded gun chased, followed, profiled my son, and eventually shot and killed him. So while they're thinking that it's two men fighting — no, you had a teenager that was 17 and you had an adult male that was 28 years old," Fulton said. "My son wasn't here to talk and to tell this side of the story, so you only have one side of the story. And so we have to look at those type of facts."

She said she hasn't forgiven Zimmerman, who she didn't mention by name, because she's "just not at that point" in the healing process. "That question usually comes up and I used to be uncomfortable answering it because of course people want me to say that I forgive the person. But I have not and I'm OK with that and if you're not OK with that, that's something that you have to deal with, not something that I have to deal with," she said.

Fulton suspects she never would have gotten involved in social activism without the death of her son and seeing involvement of younger people keeps her going. "I think of everything that's going on now in society and it's the young people that give me energy, that says, 'Whatever is going on now, it's not going to stay the same, because young people are not going to allow it to stay the same.' And I thank God for you all," she said.

Correction: A Key Takeaway in a previous version incorrectly stated Martin was killed in 1992. It was 2012.

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