TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Tallahassee neighbors honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by marching against gun violence Monday.
- The march was organized by the Tallahassee Urban League.
- Participants marched from the Strong and Jones Funeral Home to Tennessee Street.
- Watch the video below to hear the message neighbors shared during the march.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
"Guns down. Votes up."
I'm Justin White, your College Town neighborhood reporter, on Tennessee Street, where neighbors honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by marching against gun violence and encouraging the community to vote.
Monday afternoon, the Tallahassee Urban League brought the community together at Strong and Jones Funeral Home to share a painful truth.
At the funeral home, Urban League President Curtis Taylor said, "Drugs, Crime, and Gun Violence, equal you being here too soon."
But they also encouraged the community to unite together and show up for one another.
"It's important to be out here because when your community needs you, when, you know, there's a lot of gun violence going on, and the youth is so misguided. It's important to be out here. A young figure, a young entrepreneur, just pushing the youth and telling them that you can be something," said neighbor Antoine Wallace.
From conversation to action. The community moved from the funeral home into the streets. Neighbors marched through Tallahassee to Tennessee Street with a simple message.
"Guns down. Votes up."
Recent numbers from the City of Tallahassee show violent crime dropped 6.18% in the first half of fiscal year 2025 compared to the prior year.
But neighbors like FSU student Jade Jacotin say there's still more work to do.
"I feel like change always comes with action. If you want to make a meaningful impact in your community, you have to get out and you have to do the work that is associated with that. So for me when it just comes to a crime in our neighborhood, violence, gun violence in particular, in order for us to make a change we have to make sure that we're getting our voices out there," said Jacotin.
Leaders say marches like this are just one step to creating a supportive, engaged, and peaceful community.
In College Town, I'm Justin White, ABC 27.
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