Even before Indianola’s fifth and sixth homicides of 2019 occurred, Kenneth Featherstone was already planning a January 20 rally to help address gun violence and community apathy.
The December deaths of 28-year-old Travis Shaw and 17-year-old Aquavious Hines have made the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event even more imperative for the city, he told The E-T this week.
“January 20 can’t get here fast enough,” Featherstone said. “This needs to be addressed right now.”
Featherstone’s three-part event is one of two major events coming up in the next couple of weeks that will address recent gun violence in Indianola.
Last week, Indianola Police Chief Edrick Hall announced a community forum, free of media coverage, to be held Jan. 9 at the B.B. King Museum.
He invited the entire community, including current and former gang members, to try and talk through solutions to both the violence and the lack of citizen involvement.
The recent spike in gun violence in Indianola has taken its toll throughout the community.
Rev. Herron Wilson of Delta Missions has attended three of the five funerals held in 2019 that came as a result of gunfire, and he has spoken at two of them, including Shaw’s a couple of weeks ago.
Shaw was an only child.
“I was almost at a loss for words,” Wilson said. “Standing before the family, watching the tears flow down the mother’s cheek and the anguish on the father’s face and the lonely looks of the children, it’s almost unbearable. Normally when I preach, I’m not at a loss for words, but recently I have been, attending these funerals.”
Wilson said the destruction left by the murders goes beyond just the deaths of the young men.
“When you consider the devastating effects, it’s far-reaching,” Wilson said. “You’re talking about the parents’ loss, both the victims and the culprits. You’re talking about children growing up without a father…These were promising young men, with potential. What role could they have possibly played 10 years from now, if they were alive.”
Wilson will be on hand at Featherstone’s January 20 event, which will begin at Gentry High School, move onto Roosevelt Street, then Church Street and culminating at the Sunflower County Courthouse at 4 p.m.
He expects students, clergy and elected officials to be on hand to address the need to curb violence and to increase community involvement and citizens giving tips to the police.
One thing Featherstone plans to call for is a tip line for people to report things anonymously to the police.
“People in our community see and know a whole lot more about criminal activity than they are saying,” Featherstone said. “We want to encourage people to speak out. We want to encourage the student body to speak out against bullying and bad sportsmanship at sporting events.”
After the rally, there will be a candlelight vigil held in honor of those who were killed by gun violence, particularly those in 2019.
Featherstone said it is important that all of Indianola get involved.
“This is going to be on Martin Luther King’s birthday, and he coined the phrase, ‘evil and violence somewhere is evil and violence everywhere,’” Featherstone said. “It’s not just a problem on one side of town. This spills over into all communities.”
The Jan. 9 forum will start at 6:30 p.m. The Jan. 20 rally will begin at Gentry High School at 3:15 p.m.
