In first Peace Walk to end gun violence since founder’s death, family calls for unity
Hundreds gathered in Lexington’s Duncan Park Sunday afternoon to call for an end to gun violence at the sixth annual Antonio Franklin Jr. VIP Peace Walk, marking the first time the walk has taken place without it’s founder, Anita Franklin.
Anita Franklin began the Peace Walk in 2014 after her son, 21-year-old Antonio Franklin Jr., was shot and killed in Duncan Park. In the years that followed her son’s death, Franklin became a dedicated advocate against gun violence in Lexington.
Franklin died of natural causes in February, and on Sunday her son Ricardo Franklin picked up the microphone to help push her legacy of activism forward.
“The mission here, the reason why we are here today, is to promote unity, togetherness and peace,” Ricardo Franklin said at Sunday’s event.
Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt, whose office helped sponsor the event, said that she was not surprised by the size of the crowd, saying that Anita Franklin was well loved and loved so many people.
Anita Franklin began a group, We Are Survivors, for loved ones of victims of gun violence. Members of that group were at Sunday’s event, and at one point a microphone was passed around to more than a dozen of them. They each told the crowd the name of their loved one and how old they were when they died from gun violence.
“Each time we lost another member in our community to gun violence, Anita was there, she was there at the hospital to mourn with the family,” Witt said. “She helped with the funeral, she helped them to carry on, she always welcomed them and invited them into a club she started that nobody wanted to join.”
Anita Franklin was a nurse by trade who later went on to work with the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office. Witt said Sunday that she had no doubt that if Anita Franklin were alive, she would be doing everything she could to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, fight for racial justice and to fight for a solution to the number of young people who have died from gun violence in Lexington this year.
Songs, prayers and remarks highlighted those left behind in instances of fatal gun violence in, and each speaker stood in front of an archway covered in pictures and banners honoring those victims.
Tiffany Hayden, who went through the same Leadership Lexington class as Anita Franklin, attended the event with a group from Leadership Lexington to show support. Hayden and Franklin’s class from the group were working on a project to give financial literacy to at-risk youth.
Hayden said she was thrilled to see such a big crowd Sunday out and social distancing at the Duncan Park event.
“People have been cooped up, and (this) shifts the message, at least for a little while, to something positive,” Hayden said. “Hearts are heavy, times are extremely challenging, so this is a very uplifting event.”
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman James Brown was a sponsor for Sunday’s event and helped organize it. He told the crowd Sunday that it’s important for members of the community to help young people and anyone who needs resources.
“We all have to kick in and do what we can to make this community, and make our society, better,” Brown said.
This year’s walk was also sponsored by the Antonio Franklin Jr. Violence Intervention Project, the Lexington Police Department, Moms Demand Action, The Nest, We Are Survivors, MSi Production Services, LexArts, Lexington Parks and Recreation and Images by Patrik.
