Philly youth gather to hold rally, march against gun violence amid recent youth-involved shootings
PHILADELPHIA - Dozens of youth from various sections of Philadelphia gathered at City Hall Saturday to hold a rally and march against gun violence.
In the pouring rain, students wore bright orange as a symbol of solidarity and to brighten up the streets as they marched.
"We can all get this done together. It just takes one big family to love and care," said organizer Vanessa Rodriguez. "I’ve lost one of my best friends to gun violence myself. That was about like four years ago. It was on Christmas Eve. It still does affect me to this day. It definitely takes a lot of passion to get over something like this, you know, I still go through it."
Rodriguez is a student at Esperanza Academy and said the two Septa bus stop shootings earlier this month motivated her to organize a gathering for young voices to be heard.
"Rise up, speak out. We demand gun reform," said Olney High School student Yasir Anderson. "All the shootings in the city that’s going on so far is real dangerous, especially for the youth because we are the ones that are going to be the future at the end of the day. We shouldn’t be afraid to go to school."
Leaders from youth organizations marched alongside the teen activists and said it’s also time for adults to get up and get behind their children.
"Our children are dying. They’re dying every day. It’s unacceptable. Everybody that deals with children, that deals with young people should be out here. I don’t care if it’s raining, I don’t care if it’s hot. We should be out here," said Mecca Robinson of Forget Me Not Children and Youth Services.
"A lot of people think our kids don’t care, so they look at our children like they don’t care, and this shows that they do care. They do want a safe city. There are kids that want their city to be safe and they’re trying to show it. So, we got to support this," said John McLeod of Building Businesses for Kids.
The teen advocates said they’ll be here to back up anyone who would also like a safer Philadelphia.
"I’m out here with Yasir, Vanessa and all of them and I’m like experiencing what it feels like to be happy and like to be part of something that’s big that might change Philly," said Brittany Brumskill, student at Lincoln High School.