Just a day after Al Sharpton joined with Critical Mass in Union Square to protest police harassment of cycling protesters, he was leading a march in Harlem decrying youth violence. The march was instigated by the Memorial Day shooting of 7 young people following a holiday basketball tournament. Stemming from an ongoing dispute between two groups of kids, gunshots rang out along Lenox Ave. over a stretch of 10 blocks.
Just two days earlier, a 15-year-old boy was killed at a house party on 127th St. and a young girl was murdered in Far Rockaway the other week after returning to her former neighborhood to purchase a prom dress. Although her parents had moved out of the neighborhood seeking a more safe environment, she was struck in the head by a bullet and was killed.
Only about 70 people turned out for yesterday's demonstration with Sharpton, which began at the Reverend's National Action Network headquarters and ended at Mt. Morris Park, but marchers shouted "Stop the killing, love one another." Sharpton plans on holding a town hall meeting at the Apollo Theater in the near future to address youth violence.
Everyone wants a picture of the busy man, by mister mark davis at flickr
