Team 26 in front of City Hall in Baltimore
Team 26 members Jay Clark and I will ride from the Sandy Hook School to Hartford to join the 5th Annual Mothers' United Against Violence March, Memorial and Rally this Saturday, March 30th.
https://www.facebook.com/...
Here is the schedule:
6:45 - Departure from Sandy Hook - parking lot behind Demitasse Coffee Shop
9:30 - 10:00: Arrive in Hartford - 1047 Main Street - near Albany Avenue in Hartford. We will be travelling through Woodbury, Watertown, Thomaston, Farmington, and W. Hartford. We will be riding a steady, quick pace. Any cyclist who wants to join us can comment below and we can figure out a meeting place and time en route. We have a tight schedule, however, and will need to keep the pace pretty high.
10:00 AM SHARP, March steps off with participants carrying the 360 crosses representing those taken on the the streets of Hartford from 2000 to March 25, 2013. [including the 19 since last year's march].
10:30 Memorial Service led by Rev. Donald Johnson of New Hope Congregation. At end of service Henrietta Beckman and Ashley Lee will read names, and Giselle Jacobs will toll the bell. The final bell will be tolled for Newtown.
ORDER OF SPEAKERS AT THE NORTH PORTICO OF THE CAPITOL
Rev. Henry Brown will introduce the MCs: Deborah Davis and Janet Rice
Speaker Host: Mrs. Henrietta Beckman, Pres., MUAV and Minster Jarmaine Lee
Deborah Davis will introduce J. Stan McCauley
A. Introduction – JUSTICE –TRUTH –EQUALITY - J. Stan McCauley
B. Speakers
1. WELCOME: Henrietta Beckman of MUAV
2. Mothers of Hartford
3. MUSICAL SELECTION - VOICES
4. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal
5. Message from U.S. Senator Chris Murphy – Shawn Scanlon
6. Governor Dannel P. Malloy
7. Mayor Pedro Segarra, Mayor of Hartford
8. MUSICAL SELECTION –Jill Friedman
9. Dr. Janet Robinson, Superintendent of Schools, Newtown
10. Pastor Sam Saylor – father of Shane Oliver taken October 20, 2012
11. Stephen Barton – Survivor of Shooting in Aurora - Mayors Against Illegal Guns
12. Monte Frank, Team 26 – organizer of the Sandy Hook Ride on Washington
13. MUSICAL SELECTION: VOICES of WOMEN OF COLOR
14. Nancy Lefkowitz – March for Change
15. Darren Wagner - Newtown Action Alliance
16. Bishop Patrice Smith
17. SPOKEN WORD SELECTION: Lytasha Blackwell
18. CLOSING COMMENTS, BENEDICTION and HYMN
Rev. Henry Brown
Brother Joe Ellison with Saving Our Kids from the Streets
"It's Time to Make a Change”
We are proud to ride to Hartford and stand with Reverend Henry Brown and the Hartford community who have endured the pain of gun violence for many years, and continue to do so. At the rally at the Capitol, Darren Wagner of Newtown Action Alliance and I will offer brief remarks of support from Newtown. Towns and cities are united across this State and America in seeking an end to our gun epidemic.
Consider this - most of you could name many if not all of the children and teachers killed by the monster at the Sandy Hook School. Since 12/14, more than 2,500 people have been killed by gun violence. Can you name any of them? Do you know their stories? Like me, probably not. We can no longer remain numb. We should care. So, here are the people killed by gun violence in Connecticut's largest cities since 12/14.
Hartford
*Kwante Feliciano, Age 19
*Kelly Cooper, Age 30
*Jazzy Delgado, Age 21
Bridgeport
*Taurus Williams, Age 37
New Haven
*Abdul Rawas, Age 55 - A neighborhood is heartbroken after a well-known store clerk is shot dead.
*Lonnie Starr, Age 29 - Shot in an attempted hold-up by a 17-year-old who had been on probation for a previous robbery. “Today, two mothers will be grieving,” said Chief Dean Esserman said. “This good mother had to lose her son.” NH Register.
Kwante Feliciano and Kelly Cooper were killed last Monday in Hartford. Before this incident, there had not been a gun violence homicide in Hartford in 77 days --the longest hiatus in gun violence crime since 2005. And, that's a record? Can we please stop this madness?
I would invite you all to look at the cities in your respective states and comment below.
The scourge of gun violence in our cities is a problem we can no longer ignore. Cities and small towns must stand united if are going to cure the gun violence epidemic which faces our Nation. It is for this reason that Team 26 stopped in Baltimore for a meeting with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake.
Here are my comments from that meeting: http://www.youtube.com/...
Baltimore, Hartford, and Newtown stand united. Gun violence is truly unbiased, affecting lives with no regard for age, ethnicity or socioeconomic status. We must pedal together to break the stranglehold of gun violence on our Nation.
Follow Team 26 at SandyHookRideonWashington.
Mayor's Proclamation - Sandy Hook Ride on Washington Day in Baltimore