PONTIAC, Mich. – Families in Pontiac gathered Monday for a Memorial Day march and rally focused on healing from violence and preventing future tragedies before they happen.
The 16th annual “Stomp Out Violence” event, hosted by the nonprofit Identify Your Dream, brought residents, community leaders, and families to Aaron Perry Park for a peace march, wellness activities, and a memorial honoring victims of violence.
This year’s theme, “Sweet 16 Years of Collaboration,” highlighted the community partnerships that organizers say have sustained the event for more than a decade.
The free event ran from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 25, 2026, and featured speakers, live music, a resource village, art therapy, chair massages, and youth-centered programming.
Organizers also held a closing memorial ceremony recognizing more than 90 people lost to violence.
“We are here to hold space for families who have lost loved ones to violence,” said Deleah Sharp, founder and executive director of Identify Your Dream. “Our vision with Identify Your Dream is to see no violence in communities.”
Sharp said the organization believes healing can interrupt cycles of violence and crime.
“We believe that healing actually disrupts the cycle of crime,” Sharp said. “We are doing that every step we can.”
Founded in memory of Sharp’s brother, Dean Samuel, who was killed by gun violence, the annual march began in 2011 with about 150 participants.
It has since grown into one of Pontiac’s largest community gatherings centered on violence prevention and trauma recovery.
The rally came just one day after a fatal shooting in Pontiac, a reality that Sharp said underscored the importance of the event.
“This is a small community,” Sharp said. “When you rattle, and you shake even one area, it shakes this entire community.”
Sharp said one vendor participating in Monday’s event was related to the victim killed over the weekend and could not attend because of the loss.
“We hurt together,” Sharp said. “What does it look like if we heal together?”
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In addition to addressing violence, organizers also discussed concerns surrounding recent “teen takeovers” in the region that have sometimes escalated into chaos and violence.
Sharp said members of her youth mentoring program, known as the “Dreamers”, helped connect community leaders with a teenager who organized a local gathering.
Rather than criminalizing the event, she said organizers and city officials chose to listen to what young people were asking for.
“He said, ‘We were just trying to have fun,’” Sharp said. “He said, ‘We just want a space.’”
According to Sharp, community leaders and city officials worked with the teen organizer to create a safer event space that includes food trucks and supervised activities.
“We’re like, ‘Nope, that’s not happening here. Let’s go right to them and hear what they need,’” Sharp said.
Teen participants at Monday’s rally said many young people want safe spaces to gather without violence.
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“I feel like kids are supposed to be kids and not involved in the gun violence that’s going around in the city of Pontiac,” said Ahmiya Northern.
Another teen, Jaydn Bonner, said gatherings advertised as social events can quickly become dangerous.
“They’d be like chilling and all that, and then people would be running all around, have guns and all of that stuff,” Bonner said.
Northern said programs like “Identify Your Dream” help teens who have experienced violence firsthand.
“Miss Deleah’s program really helps teens and kids in the city of Pontiac that have lost loved ones to gun violence like me myself,” Northern said. “I feel like the city of Pontiac needs a change, and we’re going to change.”