The Rev. Traci Blackmon, pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ, said it was time for all wailing mothers to have a voice.
“There’s a scripture in Jeremiah that says, ‘Call for the wailing women,’” Blackmon said. “No more killing. No more blood. No more wailing mothers.”
Mothers from across the country gathered at the St. Louis County Justice Center in Clayton on Saturday, calling for an end to all violence. Blackmon helped organize the Mother’s March along with the Rev. Karen Anderson of Ward Chapel AME, Rev. Rebecca Ragland of Episcopal Church of Holy Communion, and Dr. Leah Gunning Francis, a professor at Eden Seminary.
Blackmon said the idea to organize a march stemmed from speaking engagements she accepted about Michael Brown Jr. Brown, an unarmed black teen, was fatally shot by white Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on August 9.
“There was rarely a time when I would go somewhere to speak that some mother wouldn’t stop me afterwards and want to tell the story of her child being killed,” Blackmon said. “We began to pray about it and looked at all the lives that had been lost – not just black lives.”
“The sound of wailing is heard from Zion,” Anderson said. “The sound of wailing is heard from Ferguson. The sound of wailing is heard from Shaw.”
The Shaw neighborhood is where 18-year-old VonDerrit Myers Jr. was fatally shot by a yet unnamed off-duty St. Louis police officer on October 8. Police claim Myers was armed and opened fire first, though his family claims he was only carrying a sandwich he is seen on a surveillance video purchasing from a nearby market moments before he was killed.
Homicides in St. Louis city are up thirty percent from 2013, with shootings reported almost nightly. The mothers called for justice in Brown’s death – and all killings.
The solemn protest first began with four minutes of silence in memory of Brown and was marked by moving mini-sermons, speeches and spoken word performances. Men joined the women in solidarity – including the Rev. Starsky Wilson and Dr. Arun Ghandi, grandson of Mahatma Ghandi.
Wilson said he became acquainted early on with mothers who bury their sons because of violence in the streets, something he described as “out of order.” His family experienced the tragedy first-hand.
“I sat on the front pew of my church and looked up at my mother who looked over at the coffin where my brother lay,” Wilson said. “I saw my mother weeping and wailing.”
Ghandi said it is important not to define ourselves as black, brown or white because we are all human beings. He questioned how one of the most powerful and richest countries in the world could be the most violent and said the time has come for women to take leadership.
“We have created a gun culture and a violent culture that needs to change,” Ghandi said. “My grandfather said, ‘Peace in this world would arrive only when the women awaken.’”
Former state Rep. Betty L. Thompson – who lost her son, Tyrone, to gun violence – brought attention to the case of 27-year-old Jarvis Murphy. His now 14-year-old daughter, Amber Moore, stood next to Thompson. Murphy was left comatose for two and a half years and died from injuries he sustained after a traffic stop in Overland.
Amber was holding a Justice for Jarvis sign with a photo of her father. “Hold that up so the cameras can see it,” said Murphy’s grandmother, Thelma Evans.
“We really never found out what happened,” Evans said of Jarvis Murphy’s death. Evans’ said the family’s goal is to have the case re-opened.
Yvette Harris, founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings, or M.A.S.K., recalled her 17-year-old son O’Dale Terry, who died by gun violence. She remembered her son’s sense of humor and his relationship with God.
“He was just a joyous young man,” Harris said.
They marched once around the Justice Center, beginning east on Carondelet Avenue to South Bemiston Avenue, then turning right on Bonhomme Avenue to Carondelet Avenue. Mothers who lost children to violence were asked to carry photos of their children during the march.
After the march, 110 rainbow-hued balloons were released, representing the number of victims of violence in the region up to that point this year. Killings would continue after the march, up until press time.
Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil. E-mail this reporter: boneil@stlamerican.com.
