Crowd marches for peace in Racine
Read the original story by the journal times here.
RACINE — A crowd of 35 marched down Martin Luther King Drive Saturday for the Unity Pledge March, a march calling to end violence in the city of Racine organized by a parent leadership group.
The head organizers for the March were Elaine De La Cruz and Leanna Johnson, who serves as a communication engagement coordinator for Higher Expectations.
Johnson spoke about the amount of violence in Racine recently. The shooting death of Brittany Booker on April 24 and gunfire at the funeral of Da’Shontay King that injured two women on June 2 was the catalyst for the group to band together for the march.
“Put down the guns,” Johnson shouted into her megaphone.
“Stop the violence,” the crowd chanted back.
Leanna Johnson, left, chants with the crowd Saturday as they march down Martin Luther King Drive during the Unity Pledge March. Johnson was one of the lead organizers in the march.
Members of the Racine Police Department marched with the crowd, including a group of police cadets.
The marchers were first led in prayer by Minister Devin Cook of the Racine Church of Christ. The crowd then made its way down Martin Luther King Drive to the statue of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After the march, three speakers were invited to speak:
Minister Devin Cook speaks Saturday.
Minister Cook told the crowd about his time growing up in Racine, and his first-hand experiences with the violence in the area growing up.
“I was born and raised right here in Racine ... If there is something that I know about this city, it’s that we have violence in our DNA in a way,” Cook said. “I remember when I was 16, I briefly moved to Appleton, and when I told people I moved from Racine they looked at me like I just escaped a lion’s den.”
Greta Neubauer, a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, spoke to the crowd about the importance of people showing up about the issues they are about beyond the ballot box
“I think many of us grow up thinking: Well, we will get somebody elected to office and they will fix the issues that we see in our community,” Neubauer said. “But the reality is that’s not how it works. It actually takes everybody showing up and making their voices up and pushing and supporting people in office to make changes … Movements have been the biggest forces of change in this county over time. It’s people just like you all who showed up for voting rights in the ‘60s. It was people like you who showed up over and over for the environment, to stop violence and showed up to get more opportunities for everyone in this country.”
Diana Valencia, from 9to5 Wisconsin, was the final speaker Saturday at the Unity Pledge March in Racine.
Diana Valencia, the Racine action network lead for 9to5 Wisconsin, a progressive grassroots organizing group, spoke to the crowd about the progress she has seen and the freedom she has earned growing up as a woman in Racine.
She also urged the youth in the crowd to take care of themselves and their peers, recounting how her oldest grandson died of a fentanyl overdose in college.
Special thank you to the Racine Community Foundation for their continued support of the Higher Expectations Racine Parent Leaders program in 2021 that has to lead to this work being successful!