LANSING, Mich. — Like many other cities, Lansing has seen an uptick in violence this year.
On Saturday, the Mikey 23 Foundation lead an action march in south Lansing to stand together against violence in the community.
“We noticed there’s been an extreme uptick in violence between the ages between 14 and 28 with these youth in the city of Lansing," said Mikey 23 founder Michael Mckissic. "So, what we decided to do as Mikey 23 and other organizations is corroborate together so that we can have solutions.”
About a hundred people took part.
“Generally, people have stop the violence marches.," Mckissic said. "You march and then there’s no resolution, no solutions, and so we’re having an action march.”
Mckissic said seeing the rise in violence brings back memories of his son Mikey, who was murdered in 2015.
“Every time when I see these kids that's getting murdered, it brings me back to the whole thing," Mckissic said. "There’s another Mikey being murdered, there’s another Mikey being murdered, and that’s why my whole family feels the same way in that, too.”
Mckissic said he believes the pandemic could have played a part in the rash of shootings over the past few months.
“They were staying home and they were bored and they didn’t know what to do and then when suddenly they get released so to speak, when the governor released everybody to go back to our semi-normal, the kids didn’t really have anything to go to,” Mckissic said.
The solution he wants to see is the community coming together.
“As a community, we’re hoping, not just the Mikey 23 Foundation, but we’re talking about all the churches, the masjids, the mosques, all the community together and all the nonprofit organizations come together so we can a have solution to these problems,” Mckissic said.
Young people "need mentorship. We need a lot of mentorship for these kids," Mckissic said. "We need to let them know that we care about them, we love them and we need to embrace them.”
For those who could not attend in person, they live streamed the march on Zoom. Virtual attendees logged on from all over the country including Chicago, Atlanta, Texas and Tennessee.
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