Thousands join annual Mother’s Day walk for peace, tradition grew out of killing of boy in 1993

BOSTON — Carmen Wilkinson spent Mother’s Day in a way she probably never imagined -- as a participant in the annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace.

Wilkinson lost her daughter Taylor, a Fisher College student, last January when she was killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver while crossing a street in Roxbury.

“I really miss my daughter,” she said. “She was only twenty years old. I will be strong for her. She is in my heart.”

Wilkinson joined thousands of others on Town Field in Dorchester to begin the 3.2-mile walk. It is the 29th time for the Mother’s Day tradition -- and grew out of the shooting death of Louis D. Brown, a fifteen-year-old gunned down in gang crossfire 32 years ago. Ironically, Brown was en route to a Teens Against Gang Violence holiday party when he was killed.

Shortly after, his mother, Clementina Chery, founded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute --- and then, a year later, the Mother’s Walk, which honors homicide victims and provides solace to their survivors.

“In the best of times, in the worst of times, we rise and say, you are not alone and we are with you,” Chery said.

Among the participants, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who just became a Mom for the third time.

“Every year we start our Mother’s Day walking alongside the mothers who have experienced unthinkable loss,” Wu said. “But have worked to turn that pain into peace for the entire community.”

But make no mistake, the pain is still there.

“When one of the songs was playing, I was dancing,” said Janice Johnson. “But I was crying at the same time.”

Johnson was crying over the death of her son, killed in a case of motor vehicle homicide about two years ago.

She has mixed feelings about the Mother’s Day Walk -- because losses keep happening.

“Why?” she said. “Why are there so many faces, why are there so many homicides... why are there so many causes of losing our children?”

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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