By Ruby Thomas, Record Staff Writer
Organizers of “Hands Across Louisville” — a community event planned for May 21 — hope to form a chain of a million participants holding hands from Shawnee Park down to Baxter Avenue.
The event aims to promote unity and advocate for an end to gun violence in West Louisville. And members of area parishes are asked to join in.
The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the hand-holding chain at 2 p.m. Survivors of gun violence and family members of victims will speak during the event. Music and performances are also planned.
“Hands Across Louisville” is reminiscent of the 1986 “Hands Across America” project, where six million people formed a human chain across the nation to raise awareness of the plight of the hungry and homeless.
Lolita Ewing, founder of the non-profit group Hands Across Louisville, said every parish in the Archdiocese of Louisville is invited to “adopt” a block and encourage parishioners to take part in the event.
She wants to encourage those who cannot be on Broadway May 21 to hold hands and form a chain at 2 p.m. wherever they are.
Ewing said gun violence, which seems to be plaguing the city’s West End, and the negative image it has cast on that community, prompted her to start “Hands Across Louisville” last fall.
“West Louisville has a rich history,” said Ewing, who is also coordinator of family life ministry at St. Martin de Porres Church on West Broadway. “A lot of positive things used to happen here and we’re trying to bring that back.”
Ewing said she presented the idea to St. Martin de Porres and to the social concerns ministry at Epiphany, which is St. Martin’s “sister parish.”
The idea, she said, was well received. Members of both parishes’ social concerns ministries have been working to build the non-profit and to organize the May 21 event.
The mission of “Hands Across Louisville,” Ewing said, is to “reclaim and rebuild the West Louisville community through education and empowerment.”
Ewing said one of the goals of the group is to hold events that will unite the West End with the rest of the city. The chain of people holding hands on May 21, she noted, will be symbolic of what they hope to accomplish.
Father Randall Hubbard, pastor of Epiphany, said his church supports the event because gun violence is “not just a West End issue, but a city-wide issue.”
“There’s gun violence throughout the city. The West End is where we hear about it the most,” said Father Hubbard. “It’s a tragedy and we need to look at ways to reduce that kind of violence.”
Rosemary Smith, a parishioner of Epiphany, agrees. Smith, who is active in Epiphany’s solidarity committee and a member of Hands Across Louisville, has helped organize the event.
“You read in the paper everyday about the violence and your heart feels so bad for the families,” said Smith. Holding an event to speak out against gun violence and “promote all the good things in the West End” sounded like a good idea,” she said.
“It’s not just the West End that’s hurting. When one person hurts, we all hurt,” Smith said.
Smith and members of her parish’s solidarity committee — which is dedicated to building relationships across the city — meet monthly with members of St.
Martin de Porres’ social concerns ministry. Smith said both groups have developed “strong friendships” and are committed to helping each other in any way they can.
Deacon James Turner, pastoral administrator of St. Martin de Porres, said members of both churches have been collaborating to help the needy in the community.
He believes it will take a “collective effort of individuals, churches, schools and government working together” to bring an end to the violence the city has seen recently.
Though a group effort is needed, Deacon Turner said, much of what can eventually turn the tide begins at home.
“We need to make sure our children have good moral values,” said Deacon Turner. “Schools, churches and government alone can’t fix it.
“My hope and prayer is that ‘Hands Across Louisville’ is an event where families and children can be impacted and be moved to do something different,” he said.
