13-year-old Denver artist featured in gun violence prevention song spreads message at wrestling event
Gun violence and its impact on children took center stage at an IWC wrestling event over the weekend in Westminster. According to the Gun Violence Archive, so far this year 266 children have died from guns with more than 600 injured.
On Sunday, a 13-year-old girl from Denver stood in front of a crowd singing a song and telling the story of gun violence from the perspective of children. Whether at a wrestling event or at a protest, this young artist wants to spread her message because she believes it can save lives. Her song "Dance and Live" goes "These kids just want to live."
Inside the ring, wrestlers were facing off at the IWC Legacy event. But the real battle is happening outside the walls of the venue. Young kids took center stage during intermission with signs reading "Stop gun violence." They stood alongside 13-year-old singer Abigail Velasquez, known as Abigail V., who performed "Dance and Live," a song by London Monroe she was featured on.
Nine-year-old aspiring rapper London Monroe was inspired by her own nightmare after surviving the 2017 Walmart shooting in Thornton.
Though Abigail V. never experienced anything like that, she stands by this message.
"We are just kids, and we should ... have a good life and enjoy it and not have to waste it on some person coming and shooting us ... and impacting all of us, especially our parents," said Abigail V.
The two young artists are now powerful voices in the anti-gun violence movement. They met through Joanna Rosa-Saenz who runs her own nonprofit, Joanna Saenz Enterprises, and is the bilingual community activist for the nonprofit Colorado Ceasefire. It all started after Rosa-Saenz proposed this as an idea and project for the young artists.
"We need to focus on the youth. They are our next leaders -- Abigail V., London and Keese -- these are leaders, and utilizing our music industry to be able to spread their message, especially in our school system," said Rosa-Saenz.
Those youths are now using their platform to spread their message, even at wrestling events.
"It is really important because everything that is happening right now is very impactful for everyone and is not only impacting us, but the people in the situation," said Abigail V.
Joanna Saenz is now working on a school tour with Colorado Ceasefire to try to partner with schools and educate them about gun violence while also performing their song of hope.
The song can be found on streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes and YouTube.
