“ No More of This!” March to End Black Homicides Will Take  Place This Saturday, October 10 at 3 p.m.

 Marchers will meet at the corner of Best and Jefferson and proceed  down Jefferson Avenue  to East Utica.  The community is urged to participate! “We’re marching to stop the killing  of one another,”said  Bishop Gelsey.

Behind the morning headlines,   family, friends and relatives were left grieving; three little children left motherless; a young life gone too soon; and a community asking itself once again, “why?”

Rayshonna Johnson was just 23 years old when she became the single fatality  in  the latest street party violence to rock the city.  It happened September 19 on Jefferson Avenue at Glenwood. Five people were shot. ‘Ray Ray” as  she was affectionally known, was among them but the only one who did not live.

 Last Monday, at Bishop  Frederick A. Gelsey of One In Christ Church on  Broadway  preached her funeral to a packed church of mostly  young adults.

Taking the opportunity to address a youthful captive audience, Bishop Gelsey’s theme  was “No More of This!” from the book of  Matthew. He explained that those were the very words Jesus spoke when he disarmed Peter after he cut off a man’s ear. 

“The Lord  told me to tell you ‘no more of this…no more killing one another! ” 

He talked about the  root of  a murderous spirit from a biblical perspective, explaining  that what goes into one’s mind and spirit, ultimately comes out. He gave expamples of the lyrics in some of today’s music, glorifying  killing, drugs and murder. The drugs and alcohol – killer concoctions  to create a murderdous mindset. He prayed and he taught and he put the dilemma we are facing in perspective. Using  a parable about  Judus, he made clear the role of betrayal. “We always think  its rival gangs killing one another but sometimes its friends killing friends…somebody you know.

His own son, Frederick Jr. he said, was murdered by his friend in 2012. 

“When my son got murdered I was devastated…..but the  only way  to stop it  is if the  PEOPLE say something.” 

Bishop Gelsey also educates and helps families suffering the pain of murder thru his Homicide Education  and  Prevention Project, something that’s much needed.

The Buffalo News October 2 front page cited a shooting surge in the city with 8 of 10 victims being Black. By the end of August, the article cited 217 people had either been injured or killed in a shooting in  the city – 82% higher than last year.

“No more of this”! Bishop   repeated  throughout the service,  referring to “this  murderous spirit” coming from the hood. “When are we going to stop?”

Looking within, he acknowledged that the church should be doing more to address the issue.

“The church  is asleep….and it’s  time for the church to wake up. Everybody is marching for everything, who’s marching for Ray Ray…who’s going to say ‘no More of this?”

Rallies    and marches  organized by groups are good, he acknowledged.

“I’ve marched with Black Lives Matter,” he told the Challenger. “And I respect the movement, but I want to march to  end Black homicides. When are we gonna march for one another ?

By the end of the funeral, he had called for a small march to take place the next day.

A week later he was announcing  a “ No More of  This March”  to end Black homicides. It will take place this Saturday, October 10 at 3 p.m. Marchers will meet at the corner of Best and Jefferson and march down Jefferson Avenue  to East Utica . The community is  urged to participate.

NO MORE OF THIS!