PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — As our nation grieves losses after gun violence, in Pontiac, people came together for an annual event to remember those who lost their lives to violence in the city.
Identify Your Dream organized the Stomp Out Violence March and Rally with the goal of raising awareness of the need to both prevent violence and help families impacted by violence.
“When you choose to operate out of your healing, the doors will be open. Doors of opportunity that we like to call dreams,” DeLeah Sharp said as she spoke to the crowd.
Sharp founded Identify Your Dream, a Pontiac nonprofit, to honor her brother Dean J. Samuel who died 26 years ago.
“He was like super funny, the life of our family. He was 22 years old,” Sharp said.
Someone shot and killed the young father and his friend as they stood in a crowd on the Fourth of July.
“I was a child at the time and really didn’t know how to grieve. This is what motivated me to start Identify Your Dream, which provides grief support, victim advocacy and case management for children who lost a loved one to violence,” she said.
Eriana Jackson said, “My dad was shot when I was 4 and ended up passing away when I was 6.”
When her dad William Model died, she felt isolated.
“It was always really hard because everyone else did have a mom and dad,” Jackson said.
Meeting other young people through Identify Your Dream, like the daughters of Frederick Jackson, changed that.
“It is really neat to have other kids that understand how you feel,” Asianay Jackson said.
“Don’t let it stop you from being your best self,” said Allana Jackson.
They together focus on how to use dreams to heal. The Stomp Out Violence March and Rally is Sharp’s dream.
Though her brother was murdered in a crowd, no one spoke. The murder remains unsolved.
Her dream is focused on the idea of transforming the power of a crowd from a blockade to justice, to a way to build a more loving world.
“What I wanted to do was galvanize a crowd and repurpose that for me,” she said.
You can learn more about Identify Your Dream at identifyyourdream.org.
