March for Our Youth Held in Winston-Salem After Deadly Shooting at Leinbach Park to Honor Victims and Demand Change

Following the deadly shooting in Leinbach Park on Monday, Winston-Salem residents gathered for the “March for Our Youth” to honor victims and advocate for change.

The march was organized in response to the incident that left two teenagers dead and five others injured, according to community reports. Participants marched through downtown Winston-Salem, calling for better youth support as part of the “How Are The Children?” campaign.

Under the beating sun at Corpening Plaza, community organizers spent more than 15 minutes reading aloud the names of city residents who died in recent years due to violence. The first names on the list were 17-year-old Erubey Romero Medina and 16-year-old Daniel Jiminez Millian, who died last week after a fight escalated into a shooting with multiple victims at Leinbach Park.

Shantae Graham, the founder of Full Circle Mentoring and an organizer with the initiative, warned attendees that the list of names would only grow longer without immediate action. “Instead of writing graduation speeches, we will be writing eulogies,” she said. “We’ll be trying to figure out how to get money to bury our babies.”

The “How Are The Children?” initiative was created by Action4Equity and Thriving Together Forsyth, but is a call to action to the entire community to better support young people. Organizers say this involves addressing systemic barriers, providing apprenticeships and mentorship programs, fully staffing schools, investing in mental health support and more.

A series of evening activities for youth and their families, called “Summer After Dark,” is also in the works. Mike Presnell, who leads the Youth Empowerment Program at Habitat for Humanity of Forsyth County, is helping with that effort. He says the goal is to give young people safe, healthy activities on Friday and Saturday nights.

At the march, a key question was posed: “How are the children?” The answer, according to organizers, is that they are not well and what is needed are resources. Amari Faison with My Brother’s Keeper Alliance said when resources are invested in young people, the results are youth who are well, which helps them understand their worth and confidence.

Faison added that in an increasingly isolated world, those activities mean children and teens are spending time with one another, building critical connections that destroy social anxiety. Balloons were released during the event to honor dozens of young lives lost to violence.