On last week Friday's newscast, we told you about the Light Our Hearts Rally that organizer Shakera Young was putting together as a sort of support group for the grieving families who have lost loved ones to crimes, and gun-related violence.
Having lost her son in a tragic murder herself, she understands what the mothers and grieving family members of these victims have been enduring. So, she and her church ministry put together this event in her effort to help these families through the slow healing process they must go through.
We stopped by and spoke with her as well as a few of the participants affected by the street violence:
Shakera Young, organizer
"If you can see, the back is full. I had 200 chairs out and every single one is full. Then we had seats out that were occupied so I definitely see more than what I had expected but I was believing god for 500 or more. Let's see how the night turns out. The walk was basically us taking a stand and saying we're going to walk through these streets and allowing god to heal our nation. This isn't about me or anybody, it's about allowing us as a country to move forward. It takes me and every single person within a home to do this. So I applaud who came out because that means that they are serious about the change and they are willing to allow God to come into this nation. The march went very well."
Kayla Stevens, Participant
"We're out here to support them because our family was a victim of the gun violence as well. My baby was a victim as well so we're here to support and show the love as well."
Latifah Sutherland, Participant
"What Miss Shakera Young is doing is definitely a good cause. The help and the support you get especially when you're a grieving mother, it really helps you. It helps a lot because you have that comfort and over enough shoulders to lean on. I would encourage people to come out when you see these events here because if we don't stand up for a fight for our country, I think it won't ever stop. There's no words to describe the pain. Some days I have mixed emotions. Some days I just imagine walking to the shop and meet one of the persons who did it. I would go to jail. Then other days I just feel like id leave it in gods hand and just walk pass them, you have mixed emotions. You can't ever tell what storms you're going to face every day because every day is a different storm."
In our interview you may have recognized Kayla Stevens. She's the mother of 1 year-old Gregory Mena, who's trying to recover from gunshot injuries to his foot. Baby Gregory was injured in a shooting at their home in which gunmen shot and killed Jermaine Carr, the father of Kayla's daughter.
Also present was Latifah Sutherland, the mother of 4 year-old Treyshawn Goff, who was killed innocently by a gunman in a senseless shooting.
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