BALTIMORE — The impact of last week’s string of murders in Northwest Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood can’t be put into words.
But the men of the We Our Us Movement are hopeful to send a strong and loud message to men and families surrounded by violence that they aren’t alone.
With boots on the ground and bullhorns in hand, the men of the movement are known across Baltimore City for getting their message across.
Thursday, they’re in their own neighborhood where the message they share is needed the most right now.
“For four murders to happen in a 24-hour span of time in our area where we’re headquartered, where our base is, certainly we take that to heart and we’re going to get out in being intentional with our efforts tonight,” said We Our Us Movement’s President, Pastor Antoine Burton.
Burton shares their goal is to make their presence known and felt in Park Heights, a neighborhood reeling after a string of deadly shootings that began Wednesday morning.
Around 10:00, bullets ripped through Park Heights Avenue leaving both damage and trauma behind.
It claimed the life of 25-year-old Tavas Myles.
He was just one of four victims who’d life would be taken by a bullet in just 24 hours.
20-year-old Amare Buress and 24-year-old Jalil George were behind Myles hours later being gunned down.
The morning after, 32-year-old Rashard Hill lost his life behind a bullet.
They’re losses he and the men marching with him know too well.
“For me, it’s personal. My brother was murdered here in the city of Baltimore. For me, this work is personal and nobody knows what it feels like to lose a child, a brother, a sibling, a father, or a grandchild and so to those parents, those family members that lost a loved one last week or whoever those families are that lost family members every single day, man our hearts go out to them,” said Burton.
He explains their strategy to mobilize the men where they’re desperately needed throughout the community.
“It’s a mighty thing when you see 100 plus Black men coming down the streets of Park Heights at 6 to 7 p.m., showing them ‘hey there is another way,” the pastor explained.
They planned on demonstrating the "other way" by connecting other men they encounter in the neighborhood with ex-offender-friendly job opportunities, if necessary, and offering them judgement-free economic empowerment along with a heartfelt message.
“We want to show you how you can live a good life and some of the things we want is to be a source of hope, a breath of fresh air to those who need it most in this community. Some individuals just need an opportunity,” Burton said.
