The Reverend Al Sharpton visited Hartford for a march and rally after weeks of violence in the city.
The march started on Barbour Street, traveled down Garden Street, and ended on Albany Avenue. These are some of the very streets that have been home to violence in the past few weeks.
Five people have died and more hurt during recent shootings and stabbings in Hartford.
During an energetic speech, Sharpton called for peace in the community.
"We need to come together. When you got five, and six, seven people shot dead in your neighborhood. You can't afford no differences. Everybody got to come together," said Sharpton.
The event, titled "Stop the Violence & Cease the Killing," filled the Shiloh Baptist Church.
Most of it included speeches from different pastors inspiring the community.
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Before Sharpton spoke, there was a call for donations and at least one person stood up and objected to what he saw as profiteering.
Soon after, Sharpton took the stage and announced the money was being raised for a memorial in Hartford honoring those who had been killed. He says the idea came from what he had heard a previous pastor say the city needed.
Sharpton says he donated $1,000 to the cause.
"I want the names and their stories up so that children can see that they don't want to be on that wall," said Sharpton.
Sharpton has recently visited several cities dealing with violence.
The trends he says he has seen are too easy access to guns, the breakdown of structures, and too many people have given up.
Sharpton says the memorial is just the beginning and the community needs to come together to spread peace, especially through the church. That's why many saw this as more than just a rally.
"It's a call. It's a call of empowerment to the whole community," said Rev. Dion
Watkins of Mount Olive Church Ministries.
