The Mother’s Day weekend gathering at North Avenue and Broadway showed signs of a celebration: lots of hugs, smiles and even a little dancing to music thumping from a DJ's sound system.
But the signs the women carried were grim: Mothers of Murdered Sons and Daughters. Moms Demand Cease Fire. Baltimore, Put Down the Guns.
The occasion was a "Cease Fire Peace Walk” the day before Mother’s Day to honor Baltimore mothers who have lost children to violence in the city. In brief remarks, Baltimore City State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby thanked the organizers of the rally and march.
"And I also want to thank Johns Hopkins," she added, "for treating this [problem of violence] as it should be treated, as an epidemic, as a public health crisis."
One of the organizers of the march was Johns Hopkins employee chaplain Sandy Johnson. Dressed in white to symbolize peace, she joined several dozen women and supporters who marched down Broadway, past the historic façade of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, to Orleans Street to call attention to the high rate of homicide in Baltimore.
They were joined by Paul Rothman, CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine and dean of the medical faculty, who was also dressed in white.
"We are of this community," Rothman said. “Everyone out here today is outraged by the senseless killing and violence. We need to support people in our city and in our neighborhood to help this community heal."
Johnson lost her brother to gunfire in East Baltimore ten years ago. Though this year was the first-ever march, Johnson and the organizers have hosted a Mother’s Day gathering for seven years. “This year, we're asking for no shootings in the city this weekend,” she said. “For mothers' sake."
According to city police, 319 people were killed in 2016. This year, as of May 18, 132 people have been victims of homicide in Baltimore—including one over Mother’s Day weekend.
"These aren't just numbers," Mosby told the marchers. "Those are our babies.”
One of them was the son of Latanya Bryant, who lives in Northeast Baltimore. Ernest Barnes, 24, worked as a road flagger at construction projects around the Baltimore area. He was shot to death three years ago, his body found at the edge of Herring Run Park.
Bryant recalls frequent telephone conversations to check up on her busy son and to ask when he planned to visit her. Sadly, now she always knows where he is.
“He's in a wall in a mausoleum with his name engraved on it,” she said. “I go there every single day and see my boy."
Along with Johnson, Mosby and other mothers of slain sons and daughters, Bryant followed the drummers and dancers of the New Edition Marching Band down Broadway, chanting "cease fire!" and "peace in the streets!"
Though it's difficult, Bryant said she was grateful for the chance to be part of the demonstration, which she hopes can help raise awareness and save other mothers the pain she feels.
