Public Employee Press

Members rally and walk for peace in Harlem

Speaking on Saturday morning, Aug. 25, at the Harlem Week Rally for Peace, Local 299 President Jackie Rowe-Adams said: "We're ready to put the guns down and throw up the peace signs. We're ready to walk for peace." Two of Rowe-Adam's sons died from gun violence and she is an avid anti-gun activist. "When we walk, we're going to chant," she told the crowd. "Gun down, peace sign up. Are you ready to save another life?"

Former OTB employee and Local 2021 member Frezzel Martin came out to walk. "I'm here because I lost a nephew, 29, to gun violence," she said. Walkers wore T-shirts bearing the legend, "The health of our community is our priority." Politicians, including City Council member Robert Jackson and Harlem U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel addressed the rally before the walk.

Local 1549 member Cheryl Minor, a Harlem resident, said, "I'm walking for peace in my neighborhood. We have to stop the killing-enough is enough." Local 299 member Imam Al-Hajj Talib 'Abdur-Rashid spoke and walked alongside his wife, Local 371 member Denise Sanaa-Redd, and members of the Muslim community. "The cause of peace is important to us, no matter where we live," he said.

Local 299 member JoAnn Parks said she was there to support the rally for peace and "all those who have lost children and are still losing children to gun violence." Anne Mitchel Tree, a Local 299 trustee, is an Activity Therapist at Coler Hospital. "I'm here to help end the tragedy of gun violence," she said.