For Democrats, black mothers matter

Clinton has courage to seek change, say moms of slain Florida teens.

PHILADELPHIA — A week after Donald Trump and Republicans stressed law-and-order themes and criticized the Black Lives Matter movement at their convention, Democrats used their convention Tuesday to call the criminal justice system tilted against blacks and to highlight a group of black mothers whose children were killed by gunfire or in encoun- ters with police.

The 2 01 2 F l o r i da shoot i ng deaths of two black teenagers — Trayvon Martin in Sanford and Jordan Davis in Jacksonville — were featured in a presentation by a group of grieving black women c alled “Mothers of the Movement” who voiced their support for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder attempted to strike a balance between respecting police and criticizing what he called the “over-incarceration” of African-Americans.

ERIC THAYER / NEW YORK TIMES Sybrina Fulton, whose son, Trayvon Martin, was killed by a neighborhood volunteer, urged gun legislation in her speech Tuesday.