Over the course of the past two years, One Vision One Life’s program director, Elbert Gray has hosted more than 70 community responses, but this is not something he is necessarily proud of.

Each of these vigils marks another act of violence in Allegheny County.

CALL TO ACTION—One Vision One Life member Rev. Randy McIver encourages residents to take action in order to stop the violence in their community.

“We’re losing our young people, our babies, our futures,” Gray said. “We want to let the communities know there are opportunities for a better way of life.”

The vigils are meant to give support to the families of homicide victims, but also to serve as a testament to the struggle against violence in Pittsburgh.

“The new urban terrorists are the children of the residents that reside in the community,” Gray said. “The community has to take care of itself.”

At a vigil on Aug. 20, Gray and others from OVOL gathered in honor of Michael Bailey, another murdered Hill District resident.

“We’re gonna come back,” Rev. Randy McIver said. “We don’t want to come back, but we have a feeling we’re going to come back.”

McIver, a community organizer with OVOL and Gray took turns speaking into a megaphone to those in attendance, urging the community to take action and responsibility. Some people echoed their pleas while others stared in silence.

“The problem lies within us,” McIver said. “The code of silence has caused many young men to lose their lives.”

Despite his efforts, Gray points to the “code of silence” in some neighborhoods as one of the reasons some of his vigils are not well attended.

“Due to jeopardizing family members and the code of silence practiced by the community, it depends on the community we’re in and how accountable the communities want to be held,” Gray said. “There’s some responses where members of the family show up and some where they don’t.”

The “code of silence” is a policy of neighborhood solidarity in which members of the community do not give information to police investigating a crime.

“As long as the residents continue to practice a code of silence they give the perpetrators the freedom to continue to commit these crimes,” Gray said.

“There are probably people here who know who did it,” said the victim’s aunt, Cynthia Thomas.” But no one will say anything.”

Gray has attended vigils in Point Breeze, Sheraden, the North Side, Homewood, Beltzhoover and the Hill District, but the list doesn’t end there.

With the homicide toll rising to record numbers this summer, the question is whether or not these vigils have had an impact on reducing violence.

“I think they’re effective but it depends on how responsible the communities have to be for themselves,” Gray said. “I know that they’re helping, but if you want quantitative outcomes and successes, that’s going to be hard to give a number on.”