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Community invited to join peace walk

Taking back the streets: Nicole Fox, left, with Ebonie Cox and Ceble Crockwell (Photograph supplied)

Community members have been invited to join a silent walk this weekend through neighbourhoods scarred by gun violence.Nicole Fox, Ebonie Cox and Ceble Crockwell, who have all lost family members to gun violence, said the peace walk was a gesture of unity in the wake of a spate of firearms incidents.Ms Fox said: “We just want to bring some unity back into our community, We’re so divided.”Ms Fox’s 22-year-old son was wounded in one of the latest gun attacks this month, the second time her home was the target of bullets.She lost her son, Ricco Furbert, 25, in a 2013 double murder in the Belvin’s Variety store on Happy Valley Road in Pembroke.Ms Cox’s brother, Stefan Burgess, 24, was murdered at a shooting on Glebe Road, Pembroke, in which a 25-year-old man was also wounded.Ms Crockwell’s brother, 30-year-old cricketer Fiqre Crockwell, was shot dead in 2016.The three women are members of MOM Bermuda, launched in October 2017 as Mothers on a Mission.Ms Crockwell, cochairwoman of the group, said she joined to support her grieving mother, Terri, but realised that “I needed the group as much as her”.She added: “We want to take back our streets. We also want to let the young men know that we are there if they need us.”Ms Fox said: “These are all areas that have been affected one way or another.”Shots were fired at her home on Happy Valley Lane, Pembroke, on February 13 and an apartment on nearby Field View Lane was hit by gunfire only three days later.Ms Fox said a silent procession had been chosen for a reason.She explained: “It’s not about ranting, chanting or protesting; no shouting ‘stop the violence’. It’s just a silent peace walk.”Ms Fox said participants should bring placards to show “how the violence has made you feel, whether pain or anger”.She said: “We’re not just mothers. We’re sisters and grandmothers as well.”She added that she had sympathy for troubled young men in her area.Ms Fox said: “They hear the naysayers. There’s also a lot of people that would love to see them change their lives.“We’re just keeping our gloves on and keeping fighting, not just for our community but for them also.“Peace and unity includes the young men out there.”Ms Fox added: “I’d like to let gang members know this is not against them. They are part of our community, and we’d like it if they could join us. We want to bring them peace.“They are hurting just as much as we are and we want to encourage them to be a part of us.”Ms Fox said counsellors would be on hand to offer support and refreshments would be available.Ms Crockwell added: “We don’t want to stop with Hamilton. We’re planning to branch out with peace walks in the eastern and western areas as well.”• The walk will start at 2pm on Saturday at CedarBridge Academy at Prospect and go down Parsons Road and through Deepdale to Happy Valley, then along Court Street, Middle Town and Friswells Hill, areas that have suffered the brunt of the shootings. It is expected to finish back at CedarBridge at about 4.30pm. For more information, e-mail momsbermuda@gmail.com