Tree of Remembrance in Daley Plaza honors 2,000 victims of Chicago violence
CHICAGO (CBS) -- There was a new tree in Daley Plaza Saturday, honoring 2,000 victims of Chicago violence. The families of those victims came out in force to see it light, but it was only up for a little while.
The artist said the tree was not secured Saturday but would be back on display Sunday. The tree will be on display until Jan. 1.
Stickers on the tree are almost like ornaments, each with a name of someone lost in Chicago to violence or impacted by violence in some way.
At least 500 victims, each with a story of grief, came by to search for their loved ones' names on the tree.
Anyone who registered -- there were about 500 families who did -- should eventually have their sticker put up. Each family member also received a sweatshirt personalized with their loved one's name on it.
CBS 2's Sabrina Franza spoke with a few of them, who all said that being surrounded by so many people with similar experiences of losing a loved one in Chicago to gun violence felt conflicting. It was a mixture of comfort and sadness seeing so many people who suffered the same type of loss.
"He was an important person in my life and in my mom's place and his family members here. He was important person," said 9-year-old Rickia Fountain, as she held a sweatshirt with her brother's face on it.
At just 15 he was shot and killed in Lawndale.
"After school he would always help me with my homework and stuff like that," he said.
Her mom stood beside her.
"It's important for him to be remembered, you know? He was 15 years old, and I believe anyone that was murdered or killed should be remembered," she said.
Nearby, Lataya Stamps clutched an image of her son, Jonathan.
"It's really beautiful," she said. "It is."
Her son, who was a father to seven children, was killed at 36 on Aug. 25, 2021.
"He was in a gas station on Roosevelt and Independence at the GOLO gas station," Stamps said, as a tear ran down her face. "Heart of gold. And he's truly missed."
Never Forget Chicago put the tree together. It's an organization founded to make sure the people on the tree are not forgotten and don't become statistics, especially during the holiday season.
"Interrupting the cycle of going on to the next thing, the next thing, without stopping to pause and think. No, we're losing real human beings. We're losing real men and women. We're losing people, part of our fabric. And we're leaving behind broken communities and families, and that's part that I wanted to interrupt," said Maxwell Emcays, found and creator of Never Forget Chicago. "We're doomed to repeat history if we don't remember it."
The tree is expected to be back up with all the names by 11 a.m. Sunday.