7th annual "We Walk For Her" march brings attention to missing, murdered women, girls of color

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Despite the past seven years of community members taking to the streets for the "We Walk For Her" march, organizers say the number of Black and brown women and girls either still missing or murdered continues to show a disturbing trend.

One city alderperson is now aiming to change that.

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The fight for closure for many families, was spoken out loud from 35th and King Drive on Thursday. Community members walked nearly the entire length of the Bronzeville neighborhood for the seventh annual "We Walk For Her" march.

"I have nowhere to go say, 'I want to talk to my mom,' because there was no body," said Teresa Smith, a daughter of a missing woman.

Photos are all Smith has to hold of her mother, Daisy Hayes.

"It's very important to me, and because the impact it had on my life and still does have on my life," Smith said.

Hayes is believed to be dead, but her body still has not been found after going missing from her Chicago Housing Authority apartment for seniors in 2018. She was 65 years old when she disappeared.

"You don't know if they're hurt. Are they cold? Are they hungry?" Smith said. "This pain is unbearable, and it's hard to deal with on a daily basis when you have no closure. None!"

"We Walk For Her" participants are raising awareness of what, organizers say, is the overrepresentation of Black and brown women and girls in the United States reported missing or murdered.

"The time is now that state, county, and federal come together to work with the community at the center of this issue," said Tanisha with Kenwood Oakland Community Organization.

According to the National Crime Information Center database, of the more than 280,000 women and girls reported missing, last year, more than a third of them are Black.

"And, so, we have an issue here," 20th Ward Ald. Jeanette Taylor said.

The frustration has been turned into action as Ald. Taylor aims to create a task force to address the ongoing concerns, promising to bring the issue to an upcoming public safety committee hearing to help those impacted by the disturbing trend.

"It has to happen," Taylor said. "It's past time!"