The March Of The Crosses (!)

In 2016 in Chicago 762 people were killed violently, more than were killed in the larger cities of Los Angeles and New York combined. This is the first in a series of images of a march held on New Year's Eve of 2016 to protest this violence that plagued Chicago in that year. For this march crosses were distributed to participants to carry that were each inscribed with the name and date of death of one of the year's murder victims. This image shows the marchers as they wait on one of the city's main streets to being the march. The organizers of the march, Father Michael Pfleger and Jesse Jackson, are at the front of the marchers.

The March Of The Crosses (II)

More participants in the march wait for it to start. A woman holds a sign with a Bible verse while near her a man holds a cross for Timothy Agnew who was shot and killed in an incident in which four others, including a 13 year old boy, were wounded.

The March Of The Crosses (III)

The group has now begun marching. The marchers carry crosses all with the names and many of them with pictures of a deceased victim of violence. The photo in the lower right shows a three year old that was a victim of child abuse.

The March Of The Crosses (IV)

A gentleman holds cross in memory of a young woman who was shot and killed by her boyfriend while she was pregnant. The boyfriend also killed her younger brother at the same time.

The March Of The Crosses (V)

A woman listens to speeches as the halfway point of the march is reached. Miguel Williams, whose cross she carries, was killed in a shoot out with another man who was also killed.

The March Of The Crosses (VI)

A man carries a cross for Willie Jones who was found shot dead in a West Side Chicago alley on a Sunday afternoon.

The March Of The Crosses (VII)

Two women are shown marching, one woman holding a sign offering a reward for information about a killing and the other holding a cross for Lauren Membreno who was shot in the head while sitting in a car with her boyfriend. She is not believed to have been the intended victim.

The March Of The Crosses (VIII)

This photo shows the marchers after they have carried the crosses for almost a mile. In it are a woman and a young person carrying a cross for a 44 year old woman named Tonya Gunn who was killed by shots fired from a passing car during the Fourth Of July holiday weekend just after a family barbecue.

The March Of The Crosses (IX)

A woman carries a cross for a man named Jermiron Morris. He was a college student in his final year at the Illinois Institute Of Technology who was beaten to death by a fellow student with a tree branch.

The March Of The Crosses (X)

After the march ended the marchers were asked to leave the crosses that they had been carrying on a sidewalk to be taken back to the church that sponsored the march or to be given to family members of the deceased as a memorial. The foreground cross is for an 18 year old named Fabian Ortega who was shot early Christmas morning as he drove down a Chicago street.