North Lawndale elementary honors gun violence victims in 4th annual peace march

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Webster Elementary School had its fourth annual peace walk on Tuesday.

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The event is held to honor young lives lost to gun violence.

Students and staff marched around the North Lawndale neighborhood to raise their voices in hopes to put a stop to gun violence.

"There's a lot of violence going on around our school and around our neighborhood, and we just want to put an end to that," Student Dniya Jackson said.

"Let people know that guns are not the only thing to protect you," Student Kennyla Sutton said. "You could protect yourself in any type of way, but violence is not the key."

The student-led Anti-Violence Youth Committee formed in 2021 in response to the death of one of their 8th graders.

"A week before graduation, he was shot and killed on his front porch in between just in between classes," School Counselor Nilufar Rezai said. "It was break and he went out on his front porch to talk to a family member and then there was a drive-by and that was it."

"I want kids to be able to walk to school without having to be killed or walk anywhere without having to get killed or shot," Student Lanique Carr said.

The school principal said this peace walk allows students to bring what they're doing inside the classroom out to the community.

"It's bold of them and it shows that they have some investment in what we're doing, that they're able to stand out and speak in such a profound way against gun violence within the neighborhood," Webster Elementary School Principal Khalid Oluewu said.

The student committee meets monthly and is working with the park district to create a monument garden to honor young people killed in North Lawndale.

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