Peace March honoring Kay Day held in downtown Mansfield
The third annual Kay Day Peace March was held Saturday afternoon in Mansfield. The event honors Geneva "Kay" Smith, a former community organizer and anti-violence advocate who died in December 2019. The Kay Day Committee, along with other organizations put on the event to advocate against gun violence. The sister of Kay Day, and key organizer of the event is Aretha Grier.
Grier, said they usually have a fun-filled day where there is free food and entertainment, and while they still provided that this year, she wanted to organize a peace march in light of the recent violence that has occurred throughout the city of Mansfield.
"There's been so much violence in our city," said Grier. "This year we've had seven homicides and we had someone who was just shot last night. It's clearly concerning. If my sister was alive, she would be all over this gun violence because that's one of the pieces of program she started, which was Mothers United to Stand Against Gun Violence. She started that in 2016. She would be out here in the streets trying to rally families and the community together, and preach 'Put the Guns down.'"
Grier spoke how the recent string of murders in Mansfield has increased this year compared to 2022.
"What's alarming is there were five murders in 2022. In 2023, there have been seven murders through seven months. This year I felt like, 'Lets do this peace march and still bring some fun in there.'"
The peace march started at the five-way light at Park Avenue and Bowman Street, and participants marched all the way to Central Park.
More: Mansfield City Council supporting 'Peace on My Block'
"Kay was passionate about this work. I get paid to do that job. She stepped up to volunteer to do that job," said Mansfield City Police Chief Keith Porch, who spoke at the peace march. "It was awe-inspiring to see how passionate she was. It was truly her vision. I understand in today's world. People typically pay attention to problems when it lands in their front yard, and only. It was Kay that viewed the front yard as the city of Mansfield."
Porch then stressed to the public that he and the Mansfield Police Department need the support of the community to help alleviate the violence.
"Without a doubt we've had an uptick in gun violence this year, which is truly senseless violence," Porch said. "We see our offenders are getting younger and they're quick to jump to firearms. It's something we deal with on a daily basis that we want to prevent in our city. When the recent gun violence started to kick off, the assistant chief and I met with the pastors, clergy and community and it comes down to what the citizens can do. What can we do to help solve this problem. The police cannot do this mission by ourselves. We need your support to make sure we can curve this problem."
Throughout the event, a praise dance team performed, as well as Leonard Dillion, the President of the Mansfield NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) spoke on how young kids are getting their hands on guns.
"We know that kids cannot purchase a gun, so we know that some adult is likely given these kids weapons and are affected by it," said Dillon. "We have to devise certain techniques or plans to stop this gun violence and bring back the community. The statistics say that in 2019, Mansfield was one of the best places to come and live. In five short years, it has become a place where people don't want to live in."
"Mansfield City Schools are very proud of Kay Day," said Jefferson. "I was her teacher and she did sports. She was active and involved in the Mansfield City Schools as a youth. This day recognizing her, is truly deserving. The sametime you see a banner here that says peace on my block. The Mansfield City Schools, Mansfield City Police, Richland County Children Services, City Council and other organizations have joined together for us to bring peace on our block. All great communities are tied to the school system and the school system is tied to the community. We are a great community and great communities come together when there is some form of adversity. This is our community and we need to resolve this issue on our community."
Stan Jefferson, the Superintendent of the Mansfield City Schools, touched on community and schools need to be connected together at this time.
jsimpson@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Peace March honoring Kay Day held in downtown Mansfield
