For the third year in a row, Michael McKissic hosted the "Stop the Violence March" in Lansing on the anniversary of his son Mikey’s death.
McKissic founded the Mikey23 Foundation after his son died due to gun violence in 2015.
The organization teaches young people transferable job skills to help them keep busy.
He said this year the march took on a different meaning.
“Particularly coming out of the COVID, we realized that we didn't have anything for, or any activities or anything, going on during the summertime for youth," McKissic said.
"So what we wanted to do is have organizations get together cooperatively together, so that we have a resource fair for our youth to give them something to do during the summertime," he explained.
McKissic believes an answer to the rising cases of gun violence lies in intergenerational relationships.
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“So neighbors need to get back to that old, the old African proverb that we always say, you know, it takes a village to raise a child. So it's going to take a village to keep your community safe," he said.
He said the march was an opportunity for the community to stand against the increase in violence in the city.
More than twenty people were killed in Lansing last year, many of them by gun violence. That number is on track to be surpassed this year.
