BALTIMORE — Nobody kill anybody for 72 hours.
It’s a simple message that Baltimore Ceasefire chanted for four years.
Unfortunately, homicides are up by nearly 20 percent compared to this time last year.
Organizers said with a surge in violence leading into the weekend it’s more important than ever to remind people of the value of life.
On a street corner in West Baltimore police, peace fairies, and A 16-year old high school student named Declan Rees were out trying to change Baltimore’s narrative.
“There was an increase in murders as of late. That was a very sad and defining thing,” Rees said. “I didn’t want that to be the defining thing. To get better and for us to understand why these things are happening we have to not be numb. We can’t just see a murder and have it be a number. There is a name behind those people and a reason behind things.”
Kia “Shadow” Ford was shot four years ago.
She feels the pain of that memory every day and uses it to inspire change.
“Once it crossed my path I knew I had to do something different,” Ford said. “I want all the killings to stop, the shootings to stop, and the violence period. If I come out here maybe it will be a domino effect and the next person and before you know it we have the whole world against violence.”
This weekend is significant as it is Mother’s Day Weekend and so many moms in the city are missing their children.
“If we’re going to try to save lives every day to celebrate life specifically on Mother’s Day weekend and to try to prevent moms and dads from receiving that call was very important to us,” said Ellen Gee.
Organizers said it rains at almost every kickoff event.
Some weekends they don’t have any homicides.
The goal is to one day they can live in a Baltimore where there is 365 days in a year without a murder.
“People need to remember that this violence didn’t happen overnight and it’s not going to be solved overnight,” Gee said. “One person at a time, one soul at a time, one life at a time. We’ll continue to affirm life in Baltimore City.”
They have a lot of exciting virtual and in person events planned. Click here for more information.
