Hadiya Pendleton marched in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. One week later she was shot and killed in a playground in Chicago. To honor her life, Hadiya’s friends decided to wear orange — the color hunters wear in the woods to protect themselves.
Hadiya’s birthday, June 2, is known as “Wear Orange” day, and the first weekend in June, Friday-Sunday, is Wear Orange Weekend. This year it’s June 2-4.
When we wear orange, we’re honoring those whose lives have been cut short and the hundreds wounded by gun violence. When we wear orange, we are standing together in our commitment to work for peace to end gun violence.
Oak Park resident Marilyn Heinrichs wanted to take action against the horror of gun violence. One thing she could do was wear the orange T-shirt at her Brookdale home. Her T-shirt reads, “Reimagine Chicago – End Gun Violence.” Marilyn’s Brookdale friends were curious, and once they understood that she was quietly protesting against gun violence and supportive of taking action, they started wearing orange too. Every Thursday morning, Brookdale friends come to breakfast wearing orange. They are a wonderful group of peacemakers advocating for the end of gun violence.
You are invited to join Marilyn and her friends and wear orange, June 2-4, and throughout the month of June. Join in showing your commitment to doing what we can do together to end gun violence.
Lois Thiessen Love
Oak Park
