Citywide Rally to Address Gun Violence Thursday, November 30th

Coming off of the heels of Thanksgiving, and the day before that a press conference by Mayor-Elect Cherelle Parker to announce who her Police Commissioner will be, and now, the 57+ Blocks Coalition is hosting a citywide rally to continue to address gun violence in Philadelphia.

- Thera Martin

The 57+ Blocks Coalition is all about having a gun violence reduction strategy and putting that plan into action. They will hold a citywide rally on Thursday, November 30, 2023, starting at 6 pm at Salt and Light Church at 5736 Chester Avenue. All are welcome to attend.

Reverend Gregory Holston, one of the Coalition's spokespersons stated, "Please join the 57+ Blocks Coalition in the second citywide rally to address gun violence. This citywide rally will discuss efforts led by the 57+ Blocks Coalition in 2023, share updated gun violence data, proposed prevention strategy, and next steps. Join the movement and help make our communities safer."

Reverend Holston added, "We're excited about the fact that crime statistics show that the number of gun violence cases are going down, but they are still much too high. We were at 499 murders in the year 2020 and 553 homicides in 2021, which was an alltime high in the city of Philadelphia. Since then, after our schools got back into service after our communities started getting back to normal after the pandemic, and as our gun prevention organizations started getting more funding and more resources, the murder rate has come down from 513 murders in 2022 to this year, looking at a number at this time of about 420 homicides, which is a 30% reduction from the high we had in 2021. While the homicide rate is still much too high, and still seeing the types of homicides that are still very alarming, we have turned the corner, and we are moving in the right direction. We just need to do more of what we've already been doing, and take the lessons from the pandemic and really apply them for all times."