Marchers call for peace on troubled Boston streets
(Globe file photos)
Steven P. Odom was remembered today in a ceremony that also marked the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
By James Vaznis. Globe Staff
As a steady rain pelted a sidewalk memorial of teddy bears, candles, and a basketball for a 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot on the spot six months ago, the crowd of about 150 people shut their umbrellas and put down their hoods.
"Let God cry on us and feel it in your hair," said Clementina Chery, accent aigu over e in Chery, a community activist. "You can blow dry your hair tomorrow."
And then the umbrellas snapped open, the hoods went up, and they marched down Evans Street in Dorchester in honor of Steven P. Odom's dream of peace.
The walk, which began with a prayer, culminated with a community meeting several blocks away at the Mildred Avenue Middle School and drew Police Commissioner Ed Davis, Mayor Tom Menino, and Governor Deval Patrick, among other notables.
"It's no longer a choice between violence or non-violence, it's either non-violence or non-existence," the slain teen's father, Ron Odom, said in a speech to a packed auditorium. Odom and his wife, Kim, were among the organizers of the "Recommitting Ourselves to Family" event, which also marked the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.
Steven was shot dead Oct. 4 as he was walking home after playing basketball. He was just steps away from his front door when he fell to the sidewalk. Police are still investigating; no arrests have been made.
In a February 2007 poem titled "Peace," Steven had written, "Everywhere we go there's people dying/Then after that, there's people crying/ Now let's make some peace and stop being on the streets."
His death immediately galvanized community and city leaders to battle street violence, with the Odoms often speaking out.
"Steven's body fell on the same sidewalk where many of us have stood, walked, and ran," said Odom, a minister at True Vine Pentecostal Assembly Church in Dorchester. Later he added, "I am outraged. Maybe I haven't shown it, but I am."
Menino praised the Odoms for speaking out against violence.
"They are on a mission to make sure all kids here have a good life and a safe life," Menino told the crowd, which was filled with many teenagers and young children. To the youth, the mayor said, "We want to help you have a better future. We love you."
