Vigil remembers murder victims
http://newpittsburghcourieronline.com/articlelive/articles/37636/1/Vigil-remembers-murder-victims/Page1.html
Deborah M. Todd
Courier Staff Writer
By Deborah M. Todd
Published on 04/26/2007
Will Thompkins of One Vision, One Life started the roll call of 1993 homicide victims during a candlelight vigil at The Pittsburgh Project on the North Side April 21. After the first 21 victims’ names were read, program director El Gray continued with 10 more who were murdered in 1994.
Vigil remembers murder victims
“Mary Harrison, Samuel Wright, James Derry, Michael Martin...”
Will Thompkins of One Vision, One Life started the roll call of 1993 homicide victims during a candlelight vigil at The Pittsburgh Project on the North Side April 21. After the first 21 victims’ names were read, program director El Gray continued with 10 more who were murdered in 1994.
By the time they were finished, they had called the names of 148 people murdered over the course of 14 years. And that was from the North Side alone.
Approximately 50 residents, community leaders and surviving friends and family members attended the candlelight vigil ceremony to remember those lost to violence. Organizers meant for the ceremony to honor the victims’ memories, but also hoped it would drive home the impact violence has had in a single neighborhood.
“In one way, it’s good to be here. In another way, I wish we didn’t have to. I wish there was no cause for this,” said Saleem Ghubril, executive director of The Pittsburgh Project.
The event provided a release for left behind, many of whom have yet to receive any form of closure through an arrest or conviction of their loved one’s murderer.
“It’s been five years now—I hear that a lot from people, ‘It’s been five years now, you should be doing much better.’ To be honest, when your child is murdered, sometimes it’s like it just happened 10 minutes ago,” said Valerie Dixon of Divine Intervention Ministries, an organization that uses a billboard campaign to help close unsolved murder cases. Dixon’s son Rob was one of the victims recognized during the vigil.
“There’s a purpose for what we do every day, and it’s to increase the value of life. If we allow things around us in our community to develop where there’s shooting and killing and no one’s saying anything, we’re allowing that. We’re part of the problem too.”
The idea of community intervention was reiterated as speakers addressed, and at times pleaded with, the crowd to become actively involved with young people in their neighborhoods.
“We need to start protecting our investments,” said Rev. Shirley Jarrett of Parents Against Violence. “As bad as some of them may seem, as bad as some of them may act, they still belong to us. I know that people have a tendency to say, ‘It’s not my child’—yes it is. Any child that’s in a community that you live in, and they die in that community, you should feel sad not only for the parent, but you should feel sad that another child has lost their life.”
While the vigil focused on murders that took place on the North Side, or those that involved North Side residents, guests were also reminded to look beyond the borders of their own communities.
“If we have a problem, it’s everyone’s problem,” said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper. “It’s not Manchester’s problem—up on this side of North Charles Street, we’re all worried about what’s going on down in Manchester. We all worry about what’s going on over in the Hill, we’re all worried about what’s going on in Homewood. It’s all of our problem.”
While solutions ranging from tougher gun laws to more cooperation with police were offered, the event stayed true to its purpose as a memorial service. Although only three candles were lit to honor those 148 victims, each candle represented the past, the present and, hopefully a brighter future.
“This vigil’s not about politics (or) personalities,” said Thompkins. “It’s about those otherwise healthy young people who were robbed of their most productive years. It’s about those who lost their lives to senseless acts of violence and the loved ones they left behind. It’s about you and me,” said Thompkins.
Will Thompkins of One Vision, One Life started the roll call of 1993 homicide victims during a candlelight vigil at The Pittsburgh Project on the North Side April 21. After the first 21 victims’ names were read, program director El Gray continued with 10 more who were murdered in 1994.
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| ROLL CALL REMEMBRANCE—Vigil participants light candles as the names of deceased violence victims are recited aloud. |
By the time they were finished, they had called the names of 148 people murdered over the course of 14 years. And that was from the North Side alone.
Approximately 50 residents, community leaders and surviving friends and family members attended the candlelight vigil ceremony to remember those lost to violence. Organizers meant for the ceremony to honor the victims’ memories, but also hoped it would drive home the impact violence has had in a single neighborhood.
“In one way, it’s good to be here. In another way, I wish we didn’t have to. I wish there was no cause for this,” said Saleem Ghubril, executive director of The Pittsburgh Project.
The event provided a release for left behind, many of whom have yet to receive any form of closure through an arrest or conviction of their loved one’s murderer.
“It’s been five years now—I hear that a lot from people, ‘It’s been five years now, you should be doing much better.’ To be honest, when your child is murdered, sometimes it’s like it just happened 10 minutes ago,” said Valerie Dixon of Divine Intervention Ministries, an organization that uses a billboard campaign to help close unsolved murder cases. Dixon’s son Rob was one of the victims recognized during the vigil.
“There’s a purpose for what we do every day, and it’s to increase the value of life. If we allow things around us in our community to develop where there’s shooting and killing and no one’s saying anything, we’re allowing that. We’re part of the problem too.”
The idea of community intervention was reiterated as speakers addressed, and at times pleaded with, the crowd to become actively involved with young people in their neighborhoods.
“We need to start protecting our investments,” said Rev. Shirley Jarrett of Parents Against Violence. “As bad as some of them may seem, as bad as some of them may act, they still belong to us. I know that people have a tendency to say, ‘It’s not my child’—yes it is. Any child that’s in a community that you live in, and they die in that community, you should feel sad not only for the parent, but you should feel sad that another child has lost their life.”
While the vigil focused on murders that took place on the North Side, or those that involved North Side residents, guests were also reminded to look beyond the borders of their own communities.
“If we have a problem, it’s everyone’s problem,” said Pittsburgh Police Chief Nate Harper. “It’s not Manchester’s problem—up on this side of North Charles Street, we’re all worried about what’s going on down in Manchester. We all worry about what’s going on over in the Hill, we’re all worried about what’s going on in Homewood. It’s all of our problem.”
While solutions ranging from tougher gun laws to more cooperation with police were offered, the event stayed true to its purpose as a memorial service. Although only three candles were lit to honor those 148 victims, each candle represented the past, the present and, hopefully a brighter future.
“This vigil’s not about politics (or) personalities,” said Thompkins. “It’s about those otherwise healthy young people who were robbed of their most productive years. It’s about those who lost their lives to senseless acts of violence and the loved ones they left behind. It’s about you and me,” said Thompkins.