Terri J. Vaughn was one of many celebrities devastated by the Trayvon Martin case. The actress shed a number of tears for the teen who was murdered last year while headed home from a convenience store in Florida telling Eurweb.com, “It was a very emotional evening for me.”
Placing herself in Sybrina Fulton’s shoes that night, Vaughn considered how some people in the world view her kids and became even more hurt by the verdict. “I have two sons, a 5 year old and a 12 year old,” says the actress. “Just being a mother of boys and hearing that verdict come through, just feeling like my sons are up against this world in this kind of way and how the world views them and whatever lack of consideration lack of humanity, lack of love, lack of support the world view them with, all of that stuff is going through my mind. Just like Trayvon, my kids are beautiful, young, vibrant, smart kids. They are assets to the world. And it hurts my heart that some people do not view them as that.”
Terri will portray the mother of a teen mom in her upcoming film, Love, Life, Soul. Although she is mom to two boys in real life, the actress can relate to girls and pregnancy because of her organization, Take Wings Foundation, which seeks to assist young ladies who become pregnant at a young age. “We talk to them and we’re very open and very candid,” says Vaughn of her foundation. “[We tell them,] ‘The choices that you make are going to alter your journey. Not saying you can’t still be successful women, the choices you make can make your journey harder or easier. You have to think about when you are deciding what you want to do in any given moment. Sometimes we make the wrong choice and sometimes you make the right choice, but you still keep going.'”
Terri and husband Karon Riley have one child, Kal’El, together. The actress’ eldest son, Daylen, is from a previous relationship.
Photos:@TerrijVaughn
