Amani neighborhood teens lead peace walk, urge peers to not solve conflict with gun violence

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- On Tuesday, July 30, young people in Milwaukee's Amani neighborhood led a peace march through their streets. The teens called for peers to put down their guns and resolve conflicts peacefully.

It comes after a particularly violent weekend.

Each of the three teens who led the march -they are ages 14, 15, and 15- has experienced or witnessed gun violence, some of them several times.

They want to model safe and healthy behavior for their peers and younger children so that other loved ones are not killed.

Maliyah Mitchell is 14. She helped lead the march and told us about one of her experiences. "I was on the porch, and people just started shooting at each other."

Fifteen-year-old Rubiona Piper told us, "Somebody I was with shot at other people because they were showing guns."

Fifteen-year-old Amaiya Howard said, "Yeah, it happens everywhere in Milwaukee."

Several people joined them in the heat to show their neighbors they do not accept gun violence in their Amani neighborhood.

Maliyah, Amaiya, and Rubiona led the adults, who represented community groups and the Milwaukee Police Department.

The Amani neighborhood is obviously not the only one impacted by gun violence. Over the weekend there were nine shootings throughout the city; three of them were fatal, and teens were among those killed.

Maliyah said, "A lot of people are dying, our age."

Regina Williams joined the march to spread messages of peace.

Her daughter, Mekaila Baskerville, was killed last year. She told us, "We need to address some needs in our neighborhood with our youth. And that we're attempting to do so. We have to start somewhere by having conversations."

Mekaila's birthday was Tuesday. The walk was dedicated to her.

Williams said, "Letting young people know that they can start that young is the beginning of prevention of other things that can happen later on."

Along the march, one neighbor told us she calls the area the "Burleigh Zoo" because of the gunshots she hears on a nightly basis.

She told us she would leave if she could, to get away from teens she said are disrespectful and dangerous.

Christal West also lives in the Amani neighborhood and has lost family members and friends to violence. She said four of her five sons have been impacted. "It almost seems like it's just a never-ending story."

West thinks much of the violence results from a lack of conflict resolution skills. "We don't see them as someone's brother, someone's sister, someone's cousin. You're just angry and infuriated in the moment of violence and rage."

She works with young people in a variety of ways and says the peace walk is the best example of what they're capable of.

West said, "They are not letting their situation produce their outcome."

The teen leaders want people to see their happiness as an alternative to the pain that results from violence.

After the march, community organizers provided resources and an opportunity for people to share how they've been impacted.