Dozens of parents, victims' families, community leaders and elected officials gathered Monday night to speak out against violence.
Easter weekend was especially violent in Chicago, with nine people killed and more than 36 others wounded in shootings around the city.
Sharon Miles attended the meeting at St. Sabina Church. Her nephew, 27-year-old Korey Parker, was killed in the Fourth of July two years ago.
"Once we got over the initial grieving I said I'm not gonna hide in my house, I can't afford to do it. He lives on some kinda way. You may have taken body but not his spirit," Miles said. "There were witnesses there, the case is still unsolved, because of the no snitch."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended the meeting as well to show his commitment to stopping the violence.
"Any child where that laughter is replaced by the sound of gun violence has had their childhood taken from them," Emanuel said.
NBC 5 spoke with an eighth grader who was shot in the leg while he was walking to the store.
"They didn't give us chance to respond, to say we weren't in a gang. They just started shooting," said the boy, who didn't want to be identified.
His 11-year-old cousin was also shot in the chin and chest.
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"It was chaos," said the victims' grandmother. "I had to run from one hospital to another. It was devastating for everyone."
The group is hoping that if they raise their voice at one, they'll be able to decrease the violence in the city this summer.
