Community comes together for annual Prayer for Peace march through Homewood
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Nearly two dozen homicides in the city of Pittsburgh in 2022 have raised questions about how to stop the killings.
"On Good Friday, that's when we look at when Jesus was beat down the most, and he was embarrassed and all that stuff and our communities are beat down and on Easter, we look at that as the resurrection day," said Rev. Cornell Jones at House of Manna, who organized the walk. "We're looking at the resurrection of the community. As tough as it looks right now, we're gonna resurrect from the violence."
The walk from Homewood to East Liberty on Friday focused on peace initiatives.
Pittsburgh police also took part, as Police Chief Scott Schubert said it's up to everybody to take ownership of what's going on and stop it.
"They're upset, they're frustrated that this level of violence is going on," said Schubert. "It's unacceptable for all of us and as Pittsburgh police, we're going to work with the community to bring the violence down."
The work isn't over after the two-mile walk. Jones said their job is about actively contributing to the decline of homicides.
"What we're doing right here is marching to the situation," Jones told KDKA. "When we get to the place, we're taking all of the excuses away. Everyone is able to sign up for different organizations, they can get involved in."
"A lot of times, people will look at the Black community and say we're used to trauma and violence, and no, we're not used to it," said Dr. Toya Jones. "We want the community to know we don't want violence. We stand for peace."
Community members said they want to build up crime-ridden neighborhoods like Homewood and make an impact now. They don't want future generations to go through the same thing.
