SOUTH MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A group of South Florida mothers hit the streets this weekend to push for an end to gun and neighborhood violence.
Behind the sound of a Junkanoo band marching along Southwest 216th Street in South Miami-Dade, Saturday afternoon, are members of Mothers Fighting for Justice, a nonprofit that helps families who have lost loved ones to gun violence in Miami-Dade County.
The organization hosted its 10th Annual Memorial Walk in honor of victims whose lives were cut short, as they continue their call for change.
Mothers Fighting for Justice was founded by Romania Dukes.
“We’re dealing with gun violence on a daily basis,” she said. “I’m out here for mothers who don’t have the strength to come, so I’m out here walking for them, I’m walking for myself.”
Dukes lost her son De’Michael back in 2014. It’s through her work that she supports other grieving parents and honors the family members they’ve also lost.
“It’s been 10 years for me; I still don’t have any justice. I should have stopped a long time ago, but this is what keeps me fighting, this right here,” she said.
Marchers braved the Florida summer temperatures as they walked from Cutler Manor to Goulds Park, one step at a time.
Dukes continues to turn her pain into purpose. She was joined on Saturday by local and state officials, including Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava.
“It’s important for everybody to remember what’s going on and not to just act like it’s normal. It is not normal,” said Levine Cava. “It is not normal for young men and women to lose their lives out here on the streets.”
“It’s a true partnership for us, to show our commitment to reducing gun violence and victimization in our community, and to honor all of our victims’ [loved ones] who have truly turned pain into purpose,” said Miami-Dade County Public Safety Chief James Reyes.
As Dukes continues to carry the burden of grief and such a painful loss of her own, she said the Memorial Walk is just one of the things that helps her not lose hope.
“It’s how I cope. It’s, like, my cope mechanism to do stuff like this, to walk for so many people,” she said.
Her work is being recognized by local leaders. It is a fight for justice and a call for peace that’s far from over, because these mothers, well, they must move on, and together, they will.
“People say, ‘How do you give back to the same community that took away our kids?’ It’s easy. I don’t want nobody else to go through what we go through,” she said. “It’s no expiration date on our pain when you’re dealing with death.”
Dukes plans to host a back-to-school event in the coming weeks for siblings and family members of victims. For more information on Mothers Fighting for Justice, click here.
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