A Week Later, Hill Rallies For Peace

Pastor Esau Greene of New Antioch Church of God and Reverend Wayne McCrae of Upright Ministries Outreach organized a peace rally on the corner of Rosette and Hurlburt streets, the same street where Dayshon Smith was shot and killed and five others were injured a week earlier. Fifteen city officials and officers gathered to speak out for peace and prayer.

McCrae said that the community must stand up for one another instead of going against each other.

“I also grieve because so many deaths have occurred. When we see a shooting takes place, the investigation and the officers come out. They tape off the area. That’s not becoming a new normal. Through this pandemic, we are trying to find a new normal,” McCrae said. ​“We’re not trying to go from the pandemic to the pandemonium. We want to let the community know that we’re not going to be tolerating that.”

Greene told the crowd that he called McCrae to help arrange the event after he had witnessed Hill resident Lucia Marrero cleaning blood from the shootings off the street.

“This concerned citizen, this mother of the community, was out here with her small water plant pot and she was cleaning the blood off of the sidewalk in tears because she said she has seen enough,” Greene said. ​“None of us are better than the next and we’re out here killing each other.”

Marrero (at right in photo) is a mother of four children. She has been a second mom to many kids while living in the neighborhood that past 15 and a half years. She said that Smith was the 12th person she had seen die due to street violence.

“We all as a community need to work together. We’re all parents out here. These children don’t have anything. All they have is the street and it’s sad,” Marrero said. ​“Some of these children might not realize that they have programs but they’re not utilizing them because they probably don’t know of them. There’s a lot of kids out here who are just losing their lives.”

Clifford Beers Director of Family and Community Engagement Tirzah Kemp (at left in above photo) gave Marrero and every attendee a business card to reach the agency’s mental health anonymous hotline and other services. The Clifford Beers card was designed to be small enough for people to put in their pockets and to know they’re not alone.

Kemp said Marrero’s pain reflected that when there is an act of violence in the community, it affects more people than the perpetrator and victim.

“It affects the whole community. Our community is traumatized, our community is in pain, our community is facing inequities unlike we’ve ever faced before,” said Kemp. ​“We need help. It’s very important that we stand up and begin to look at the traumatic impact of what’s happening in our community, and how it’s disproportionately affecting Black and brown families.”

Neighbors listened from a distance while sitting on their front porches or passing by on foot, ​“We’re pleading with you and we’re asking you to survive! We need you to survive!” Kemp implored them.

Police Chief Otoniel Reyes, who grew up on Rosette and Hurlburt streets, said he wanted to spread a message of love, unity, and hope.

“The New Haven Police Department stands with you. We are your partners. We understand the pain. We understand the need for positive reform. And we stand with you to be a part of that change,” said Reyes. ​“More importantly, we understand the need of uplifting the community and making sure our young folks have an opportunity for a better future.”

New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter noted the impact of Covid-19 on the community.

“People have been locked up in their homes, and I think we’re seeing a manifestation of that. We do not need to be killing one another, and I will acknowledge that,” Porter said. ​“I also want us to acknowledge the conditions of the community and the conditions under which we have been forced to live not only for generations, but for centuries. We need to talk about how we have had a chokehold not only on our necks, our finances, and economics,.”

Hill Alders Kampton Singh and Evelyn Rodriguez said residents, particularly the youth, need to take the community back.

“We have our families here. We have to show people that we are ready to take our streets back. We are ready to enjoy our property and neighborhoods,” Singh said. ​“You have resources. Please reach out. There are agencies and people you can talk to.”

“We don’t have to resort to guns or violence. Please let us want to love ourselves, to love others, and to help each other during this serious time,” Rodriguez added, after Singh spoke. ​“There’s a lot of things we need for. There’s this Covid-19. There’s a lot of joblessness. There’s a lot of young adults without jobs.”

Charles Minchenko said the shootings resonated with him because of the death of his nephew, Darrin Winfrey, who was shot in October 2017 on Richard Street.

“This right here sits bad with me because it was a whole block party and you’ve got six people that got shot and one murder. For the people in this community to not come forward and say something, you’re wrong,” Michenko said. ​“You’re not coming forward because it wasn’t you and your family, but you have other families that you’re friends with out in this community that are hurting right now. If you can’t help them then who are you going to help? Nobody. It needs to stop and New Haven needs to step up.”

Rev. Brixeida Marquez runs Free Forever Prison Ministry at 149 Rosette St.. Her ministry assists prison inmates in reentering society She urged the community to work as one.

Angel Ramos (pictured), an ex-convict, is now a minister in West Haven because of Marquez’ help, he said. He stood as a living example that anyone can save themselves. Ramos spent his entire youth incarcerated at Attica Correctional Facility in New York. He still has a bullet in his body from his days on the street.

“I was facing 25 years to life, but there the Lord rescued me,” Ramos said. ​“Don’t wait to realize the police and ministers are with you until being in a prison.”