You’re reading a story from Sidelines 100, a project showcasing a century of student storytelling at Middle Tennessee State University. Sidelines 100 plans to highlight 100 stories from the newspaper archives this fall and spring.
This story originally ran in the April 8, 1996, edition of Sidelines. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of all things Sidelines 100.
The story has been updated for current basic AP style, but the wording in the story has not changed. Any ideas, perspectives or opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Sidelines.
They marched out of grief. They marched out of anger. They marched out of love.
They were marching for their families. They were marching for their friends. They were marching against the violence that made them all victims.
“I lost a brother to a gun at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Mary Swader of Murfreesboro. “The only way for the problem to be solved is for everyone to come together. It’s not a black and white issue.”
Saturday’s Unity Parada, a march against crime and violence, brought together Families of Victims, an organized group of friends and concerned members of the community.
Beginning in the Greenland Drive parking lot and marching down Tennessee Boulevard and East Main Street, the group congregated at the city plaza for a time remembrance.
“This march is to unify the community to stand against crime and violence,” said Richard Sibert, one of the organizers of the event.
Remembering those who have died because of domestic violence, guns, drug abuse and violent crime, the victims’ families and friends carried photos of their loved ones, posters and banners in remembrance of them.
Troy Wade, William Sway, Corey Ward, Scotty Gann – just a few of the faces in the photos and names on the banners who memories were carried along with their marchers.
“We, as victims’ families, suffer daily,” said Cresseda Howse, whose baby brother, Corey Ward, was fatally shot Dec. 9. “I want justice to be served and for people to realize a higher up will see to it. These victims do not need to be forgotten.”
Those gathered for parade included MTSU students, local high school students, members of area churches, Smyrna police commissioner Sally Wals and U.S. Congressman Bart Gordon.
“We’ve lost two residents of campus housing to crime,” said Tracy Holt, MTSU area coordinator, remembering the most recent victim, Andrew Poklemba, who was killed in December. “I want to show my respect for them and their families and my concern about violence in general. It is a problem that is out of control.”
“We don’t want this to be a one-time thing,” Mary Swader said, who said the Families of Victims will try to make the parade an annual event.
As their feet hit the pavement and their chants filled the air, the participants in the Unity Parade hoped, with each step they took, their grief would lessen and their message would be heard.
“Peace, please.”
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