Mothers march in St. Paul to call attention to gun violence

On Sunday, dozens of people walked up and down a mile-long stretch of Rice Street in St. Paul.

Leading the group was a line of women who carried poster boards with the faces of their children who have been shot and killed in the Twin Cities.

At the center was LaTayna Black. Her daughter, Nia "Brooklyn" Black was shot and killed outside of the Lamplighter Lounge after a large fight broke out in the parking lot.

In the year since her daughter’s death, Black has become a fierce advocate and strong voice calling attention to the growing problem of community gun violence in the Twin Cities.

"The more and more we kept talking about community gun violence, there were more and more mothers reaching out to me and saying, ‘Thank you, thank you for standing up for my child,’" she said in an interview Sunday.

To help push her message, Black founded the organization Mothers Against Community Gun Violence. The group has launched a new initiative, using billboards and yard signs that say, "Not On My Block," a phrase intended to motivate community members to take back their streets.

"She’s the torch," Black said of her daughter. "She’s the light that keeps me going. She doesn’t have a voice so I have to be her voice."

For women like Romisha Jones, the support this group brings means everything. Jones’ son, Jaden Blackmon, was shot and killed in south Minneapolis in April.

"It gives me a little peace, because they know what I’m going through," she said.

During their march, the group stopped near a billboard on Rice Street. On it is a photo of Nia and the group’s message to the community.

As they stood under the billboard, a volunteer read a special proclamation issued by St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter that honors Nia "Brooklyn" Black and declared June 13 Community Gun Violence Awareness Day in the city of St. Paul.

Black began to cry. It was her fellow mothers’ words and hugs that comforted her the most, she said.

"Last year, I walked out here by myself … crying for somebody to hear me and now to have all these mothers," Black said. "They heard me and I’m not alone."