Hundreds of people filled the streets of Dorchester on Sunday for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s Mother's Day Walk for Peace, marking the march's 30th anniversary with a turnout that felt both celebratory and defiant. The event unfolded less than a day after a string of overnight shootings across Boston left one person dead in Mattapan and two others wounded in Dorchester, a grim backdrop that turned the walk into a very public demand for safety and support for survivors.
From a mother's loss to a citywide movement
The walk began in 1996 after Chaplain Clementina Chéry's son Louis, a 15-year-old honor student, was killed in a gang-related shooting. What started as a small Mother's Day tribute has grown into a major annual gathering. According to the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, the walk has drawn hundreds of thousands of family members and supporters over three decades and helps fund survivor services, youth programs and advocacy work.
30 years strong and a new post-walk rally
This year's walk kicked off at Town Field Park in Fields Corner and followed a roughly 3.2-mile route through Dorchester before ending with a post-walk rally, according to the Mother's Day Walk for Peace website. Organizers lined up music, food trucks and community speakers as part of the "30 Years Strong" celebration, giving participants a place to share stories and recharge together after the march.
Shootings earlier put the day's purpose into sharper focus
Less than 24 hours before the walk stepped off, police responded to two separate overnight shootings. According to Boston 25, officers found a man with a gunshot wound outside 28 Woolson Street in Mattapan, where he was later pronounced dead, and later discovered two gunshot victims near 255 Geneva Avenue in Dorchester who were taken to hospitals for treatment. The incidents remain under investigation, and, as WCVB reported, Mayor Michelle Wu said "Incidents are under investigation right now" and thanked first responders while emphasizing the city's commitment to public safety.
Chaplain Clementina Chéry, who launched the walk after losing her son, told WCVB, "The true meaning of community is we must grieve together, mourn together and come together to protect each other's children." She and other marchers used the platform to call for more resources for survivors and for policies they say are needed to break cycles of violence.
Organizers also framed the day as a crucial fundraiser. WHDH reported that this year's goal is roughly $600,000 to support the Peace Institute's survivor services, Generation Peace youth programming and reentry work. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute notes that the money helps underwrite both immediate and long-term care, advocacy and training for families affected by homicide.
As the walkers moved through Dorchester, volunteers and city leaders stood alongside families who have lost loved ones, turning what can be a quiet and isolating holiday into a visible show of solidarity and activism. For organizers, the walk is meant to be both memorial and lifeline, and they point those who want to help toward the Mother's Day Walk for Peace website for more information and ways to support.
