A rally featuring mothers of gun violence victims was held on Saturday in Wilmington.
Around 200 people gathered in Helen Chambers Park. The rally merged with another event – Praise in the Park – and featured speakers including Mothers in Charge Philadelphia, local pastors and performances by children groups Voices of the Youth and Hope Kids.
Among them was Lanita Brooks who lost her son Deshon Sellers last year.
Around five minutes after he stepped outside of his house last February, he was shot and killed.
“I was joking with him before he left the house about it being cold outside, wherever he was walking to. And he just laughed and smiled, put his hood on and said, mom, I’ll be back," Brooks said.
Brooks says there weren’t enough jobs or programs in the community for kids like her son, with felony charges.
She and her sister Sharita Sewell are part of the Stop the Violence Prayer Chain and are raising money to send kids to a six-week woodworking apprenticeship program free of charge.
“If we come together and stick together, it’s strength in numbers and we can make change together," Sewell said. "Don’t wait until it hits your doorstep to come out with us. It doesn’t matter where you live, how much money you make, it can happen to you or your loved one.”
A class of kids graduated from the program in July, and another class will be announced soon.
Tilaki Barksdale also joined Saturday's rally to help raise awareness about the prevalence of gun violence in the city, and what she says is a language kids are speaking that is different from her generation’s. It’s been almost a year since Barksdale lost her son Quadrice to gun violence.
She says he was shot in the back of the head last October while walking home from his cousin’s house. She’s not satisfied with the investigation – which hasn’t turned up a shooter yet. She says officers are still looking to interview witnesses.
“My reality is that he’s six feet deep," Barksdale said. "The only memories I have are the ones now on my phone, pictures and memories of him growing up. That’s what they snatched from me, they snatched also the small things he enjoyed like when he took a shower he had music on his phone, how he used to eat monkey bread every time he came in the house and was in the refrigerator.”
Since her son’s nickname was Wavy, she wants to create a foundation called WAVE – Warn Against Violence Everywhere – in her son’s honor.
