CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Gun Violence Awareness Day, started in honor of a 15-year-old shooting victim, saw dozens of people wearing orange and biking Friday night on the South Side.
The Wear Orange movement started in honor of Hadiya Pendleton, the teenage girl who was shot to death in 2013 in a South Side park now named in her honor.
In addition to the movement, the Chicago South Side Critical Mass bike ride group decided to ride Friday night for gun violence awareness, honor Hadiya and others lives lost on Chicago's streets. The bike ride was organized by Danielle McKinnie Pendleton.
“We’ve got to fight even harder, because now people are more desensitized to these shootings,” organizer Danielle McKinnie told CBS 2. “When I hear another I’m like, ‘Didn’t I hear about that?’ Then I realize it’s a different one.”
The first stop for the cyclists was the park named for Hadiya Pendleton. Bill Wood was among them.
“We’re out here riding bikes today,” he told CBS 2. “Kids should have the opportunity no matter where they are to ride their bike freely without fear.”
Pendleton’s mother, Cleopatra, was there to accept hugs from the cyclists.
“I just wanted to meet the cyclists out here and tell you thank you. I think it’s a beautiful tribute every year,” Hadiya’s mother Cleopatra Cowley-Pendleton told CBS 2.
More than 120 Chicago residents under 18 have been shot so far this year. Nearly 20 didn’t survive.
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