Duncan Park in downtown Lexington will be the site of a peace walk Saturday afternoon. It will be the ninth such event as part of the Antonio Franklin Violence Intervention effort. The 21-year-old Lexington man, a bystander, was fatally shot in 2014 in the park. Franklin’s brother Ricardo continues to carry the torch for the peace walk, originally organized by his mother Anita, who passed away in 2020.
“No matter what their background was, no matter what they had done in the past, she loved people. And she forgave people. So I kind of take some of that into consideration when I’m doing things. To love, to forgive, and to keep moving forward,” said Franklin.
Franklin says a key emphasis of the violence intervention program is to help struggling people realize the use of guns is not the avenue to take.
He said gun restrictions are not a focus of the peace walk, but instead, ways to create a benevolent community through intervention.
“We believe that the community at hand will be deciding factor. Maybe someone remembers they have someone in the community that could help alter their decision before they make a decision that’s irreplaceable or that changes their life forever. So, I think we’re just going to keep striving in that aspect of it,” said Franklin.
Franklin says he’s been encouraged to see how the peace walk event has grown over the past nine years. His mother Anita Franklin, who passed away in 2020, organized the first peace walk. He said she was successful in bringing people together and now it’s about continuing the peace walk tradition. Activities in Duncan Park start at 1:30 with a resource fair with the walk scheduled about 3:15.
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