200 rally for new response to violence

“A lot of us, each and every day, want to hold so much animosity against each other,’’ the Roxbury woman said to a crowd of 200 gathered yesterday for the second annual 10,000 Strong Boston rally. “That’s why our children are killing each other.’’

Community leaders, activists, and families gathered in Dorchester on Father’s Day to talk about violence, education, reform of the Criminal Offender Record Information system, and unemployment in Boston’s minority communities during an event inspired by the 1995 Million Man March.

“The goal is that within the next three to five years, we will be 10,000 deep,’’ said Jamarhl Crawford, the rally’s organizer, who also heads the local chapter of the New Black Panther Party.

Crawford, of Roxbury, likened conventional approaches to healing communities to “putting Band-Aids on gunshot wounds,’’ and said that to address issues like youth violence, leadership needs to come from within the community. “Once we get people together in large numbers, from there, the organizing begins,’’ he said.

After hours of music despite an insistent drizzle, the crowd quieted for speakers, including state Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz.

David spoke accompanied by her now 9-year-old daughter, Kai Leigh Harriott, who smiled from her wheelchair. Anthony Warren, the man who shot Harriott, is serving a 13- to 15-year prison sentence. Harriott forgave him in open court in 2006, and David has expressed the wish that Warren forgive himself. David’s message of compassion and unity was articulated by many people in the crowd.

Watching his 3-year old daughter, Trinity, twirl an umbrella, Ego Ezedi of Dorchester said he wants Boston to be a place where she can grow up safe. “You heal the family first, and then you heal the street. Once you heal the street, you heal the community. Once you heal the community, you heal the city,’’ said Ezedi, who was among several City Council candidates at the rally.

This year, there have been 117 shootings in Boston, 19 of them fatal, compared with 92 shootings by this date last year, according to Boston police.

Like many people in attendance, Cornell Mills of Roxbury pointed to the interconnectedness of the issues contributing to violence and trouble in the community. Naming challenges - lack of jobs, lack of healthcare, low self-esteem - he said they must be addressed together. “If you try to attack one of them, the other two, three, or four will cause enough confusion to stifle whatever you’re doing,’’ he said.

Crawford called for people to stop stereotyping young black men and stand together.

“We’ve got to break down this thing that’s got us scared of ourselves.’’

Vivian Nereim can be reached at vnereim@globe.com.