People in the South Oak Cliff Neighborhood off Sunnyvale Street hoped to send a message to troubled youth Saturday morning. They're tired of the violence and tired of seeing friends and neighbors have to bury their children.
Patricia Allen, who organized the rally outside Calvary Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church refers to gang violence as, "Senseless bad choices. And because of these choices we lose a young person's life."
The group "No More Violence" wants to see young people learn compassion and understand the value of a human life before they lose their own life to a bullet or end up in prison.
"We are concerned about our young people actively making bad choices," Allen told a crowd of about 30 people standing in the sun outside the church waiting to march. "We want to have a safer and healthier community in Dallas."
Some young people have gotten the message like teenage preacher, Justice Hudson. "Let's not carry guns," Hudson told the crowd which did not include very many teens. "If you don't have a license to carry a gun, you do not need to be in possession of a gun. Drugs, marijuana, all these things we don't need to participate in."
Patricia Allen says her group will continue to hold rallies and marches in North Texas communities where they think the gang problem has gotten out of hand.
