These Moms Will Spend Mother's Day Weekend Marching for Slain Kids
Mother's Day should be a time for children to celebrate the women who gave them life or who sacrificed to raise and support them.
But this holiday will be spent a little differently for Maria Hamilton, the mother of Dontre Hamilton. Her son was suffering from schizophrenia and was fatally shot 14 times by a white police officer in Milwaukee in April 2014.
Hamilton will lead the Million Moms March in D.C. Saturday, along with other mothers who have lost their sons to police violence.
"They will make their way to the Department of Justice to present their demands for justice and racial equality, in the name of their slain children," a statement read. The family of Oscar Grant III, a young man who was killed by BART officers in Oakland, Calif., in 2009, is expected to attend.
Following her son's death, Hamilton founded Mothers for Justice United, the organizers behind the march.
"My mission is to make people aware that this is a bigger problem than anybody actually thought," she told WISN. "Now that the doors have come open, we want the doors to stay open until things start to get fixed."
On April 20, Hamilton along with the mothers of Antonio Martin, Kajieme Powell and William Rayford and others announced the Million Mom March in Ferguson, Mo., the town that was filled with protests for weeks after Michael Brown was killed by Officer Darren Wilson last August.
Click here for more information about joining the Million Moms March.
Follow Natelege Whaley on Twitter: @Natelege_.
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(Photo: Mothers for Justice United via Vimeo)
