Organizers said 3500 people rallied at City Hall Plaza in Downtown Dallas on Saturday morning to remember Trayvon Martin and protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman, the man who shot the unarmed teenager.
"People my age coming out here could really mean something, show something to the community," 16-year-old Sean Michael Robinson said. "We actually have a voice. We are Trayvon Martin."
The rally comes a week after Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman was found not guilty in the death of Martin, an unarmed teenager. Zimmerman successfully claimed that he was protecting himself when he shot Martin.
The Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network organized the "Justice for Trayvon" rallies and vigils outside federal buildings in at least 101 cities: from New York and Los Angeles to Wichita, Kansas, and Atlanta, where people stood in the rain at the base of the federal courthouse, with traffic blocked on surrounding downtown streets.
A critic of the rallies is longtime Dallas radio talk show host Mark Davis.
"There are people who wanted George Zimmerman found guilty in order to counterbalance hundreds of years of racial injustice," Davis said. "That's not the way to run life. That's not the way to run the judiciary."
Since the case garnered national attention last year, Michael Robinson has had a difficult time talking about the case to his 16-year-old son Sean.
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"Other folks need to recognize the pain we feel as a community of people," said Robinson. "I'm not just saying all black people feel this. But people outside -- my white friends are saying -- 'what just happened'?"
The searing sun did not stop supporters from coming out to Saturday's rally. Dallas Fire-Rescue treated 35 people at the event for heat related illnesses.
"Racial issues are really big in America, yet nobody wants to address it," said Lindsey Anderson of Fort Worth. "No one wants to come out and state the obvious and this gives us an opportunity in support of Trayvon Martin."
But Davis countered.
"You don't criticize a jury verdict because it's outcome doesn't satisfy your politics or your personal experience," Davis said.
