KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City, Missouri, is once again dealing with an alarming number of homicides.
So far in 2023, the city has recorded 60 homicides, keeping pace with other record-breaking years in KCMO.
The community wants to do something about it in their own neighborhoods, and did so during a canvass on Wednesday afternoon hosted by KC Mothers in Charge.
"We're trying to stop the violence, protect our children," a volunteer shouted. "Honk your horn loud and proud."
KCMO mothers were in the streets near Prospect Avenue and east 35th Street, an area plagued by violence.
Last month, seven people were shot in this area in a span of two days. A man was shot and killed at a bus stop the month before that. Those are all unsolved.
That's why parents with KC Mothers in Charge and Mothers United are advocating against violence — they don't want anyone else losing a child.
Cedric Hall might not have lost a child, but he knows what happens when guns are used as a solution.
"It's not worth it in the long run," Hall said. "For every action, there's a reaction or repercussion."
Rosilyn Temple, founder of KC Mothers in Charge, lost her son in 2016.
"My son was a Black young man and I'm a Black mother," Temple said. "I believe in coming back to my community to speak the truth."
Jill Buford, the president and founder of Mothers United, also lost her son to violence.
"My story is about my son Andre Carter," Buford said. "He got murdered here in Kansas City."
In east Kansas City, they are doing what they've been doing for years — starting conversations with people like Hall.
"With no father figure, I kinda got into the gang life street activity. I was a gang member for a minute," Hall said. "I followed that path until I bumped my head so many times."
Mothers and volunteers want people to understand their pain.
"A lot of our kids is dying and parents is losing they kids," Hall said.
And some people can use their own stories to do something about it.
"Just a part of the movement," Hall said.
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