It was three years ago — on Feb. 26, 2012 — that unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin was shot by George Zimmerman. It would be months before Zimmerman, who had said the shooting was in self-defense, was found not guilty, a decision that inspired a new wave of debate about racism and the law. Following the verdict, TIME devoted a cover story to the way the case had shaken the country, as well as its reverberations on a more intimate scale.
As a columnist for TIME, Touré addressed the situation in the Apr. 2, 2012, issue of TIME. He responded to the news with a list of eight pieces of advice for people who “could be a Trayvon”:
Read the rest of his advice, here in the TIME Vault: How to Stay Alive While Being Black
Read the cover story from 2013, here in the TIME Vault: After Trayvon
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Write to Lily Rothman at lily.rothman@time.com