The Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a group closely associated with the birth of the civil rights movement, is bringing its annual convention to Sanford, in order to keep the spotlight on the Trayvon Martin case.
SCLC Interim President C.T. Vivian says the group wants to speak to the overall issue of African-Americans "being seen as something they are not"' and "being killed for something they shouldn't be killed for."
Vivian says the Martin shooting is an opportunity to engage young people and teach them about non-violent direct action, a cornerstone of the civil rights movement.
Trayvon Martin, a black teenager, was fatally shot in a gated apartment complex Feb. 26 by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman as the 17-year-old unarmed teen was walking back from a nearby convenience store.
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was born out of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the co-founders.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.