News Conference Tuesday for 4th Unity Walk

June 7, 2021 – A news conference will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Hamilton High School to announce the fourth Unity Walk Against Gun Violence scheduled for Saturday, June 12, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

The news conference is to be held outside the entrance to the gym (to the left of the Main Entrance), but will be moved inside in the event of rain.

Scheduled to speak at Tuesday’s news conference are Shelby County Schools Supt. Dr. Joris Ray; Memphis Police Department Deputy Director Mike Ryall; Stevie Moore, President and Founder of Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives (F.F.U.N.); E. Winslow ‘Buddy’ Chapman, Executive Director of CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County; Dr. Peter E. Fischer, Medical Director of the Regional One Health Elvis Presley Trauma Center (The Med), and Dist. Atty. Weirich.

A student from East High School also will speak on gun violence.

Saturday’s 1.8-mile walk will begin and end at Hamilton at 1362 E. Person Ave.  Masks and social distancing are required for anyone not vaccinated. Participants sign in upon arrival. The walk begins at 10 a.m. Assemble at 9:30 a.m.

More than 1,000 people have participated in previous walks held in the Medical Center last November, in Whitehaven in February and in Frayser in April.

The Unity Walk concept was developed last year by Stevie Moore and Bill Gibbons, President of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.

The walks are sponsored by The Pledge to Protect 901, a collective of interested individuals, activists, education and health care leaders, government agencies, and grassroots and nonprofit organizations working to end gun and community violence.

Each walk begins with the group pledge:

See something. Say something. Your call counts.

Know where your kids are. Know your neighbors.

Join or start a Neighborhood Watch Group in your neighborhood.

Respect yourself and those around you. Violence is never the solution!