Walk for Nonviolence in Springfield on Sunday

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – On Sunday, the Greater Springfield Campaign for Nonviolence hosted a Walk for Nonviolence.

This walk is to take action to build a long-term movement for active nonviolence in Springfield and in other communities. With over 20 shootings in the city, residents want to promote peace rather than violence.

This is a Covid-safe walk, which means that everyone has to wear face masks and keep social distance. During the walk, everyone will be walking through the Blessed Sacrament Church neighborhood and will stop to pray at various places. Also during the walk, they will:

• Remember those who have died by violence in Springfield,
• Come together as a community that is affected by violence,
• Acknowledge the different forms of violence and the causes of violence in our community such as poverty, racism, mass incarceration, drugs, and domestic violence,
• Welcome those who have fled from violence in their homeland,
• Begin a community conversation exploring ways that we can build a peace-filled city together.

The walk began at 2:30 p.m. at the Blessed Sacrament Church parking lot and ended there with a rally with speakers at 3:15 p.m.

22News spoke with Pastor Lauren Holm from Bethesda Lutheran Church who is in charge of the walk about what their long terms goals are to end gun violence, “There are better ways to solve our differences between people and that’s what we are trying to promote is non-violent alternatives. We are working on trying to get a curriculum into the school system so that children will learn non-violent ways to solve their disagreements with other people.”

The Greater Springfield Campaign for Non-violence group believes that starting a community conversation will help the community explore new ways to build a peace-filled city together.