LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — On Monday morning, the Robert "Say" McIntosh organization held a prayer vigil and balloon release at the Mock Cemetery on the corner of Daisy L. Gatson Bates and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
The event was held for people to be able to stand together as a community to ask for peace and no more violence in Little Rock in 2024.
"My husband is not here, who is the creator of the Mock Cemetery with the crosses. Given the information about the violence that is constantly occurring in our city, the white crosses represent that statistic. We're here as an organization to carry on the legacy of the Robert 'Say' McIntosh Foundation," said Derotha Webb, Co-founder of the Robert 'Say' McIntosh Foundation.
Each cross planted in the ground represents a life that was taken by acts of violence, and Webb has been pleading for that trend to stop in 2024.
"That's somebody's loved one, somebody's child, somebody's auntie, uncle, mother, grandmother, grandfather, father, uncle, good friend. So we don't want any of it and that will make our organization very happy," Webb described.
Going out on January 1 has been a more than a 60-year-old tradition for Webb and her husband, Robert 'Say' McIntosh, who passed away in 2023. However, Webb said all of this started so they can bring awareness to what they feel has been consuming our state.
"The focus is on stopping the violence. We want to continue to make the community in the state aware of the violence that's going on. We have to start somewhere and we want to reach out and ask you to start with us today and 2024," she said.
Webb said it's always bittersweet for her this time of year because her husband would normally be here. Though she explained the importance of keeping his legacy alive.
"The cross with the scarf symbolizes him and the 60-year memory of what he created here on this lot. We think that when people look and see so many crosses in such a small time frame, maybe they will come and ask questions and try to see what they can do to get involved to help stop so many senseless killings," Webb added.
By releasing a prayer and balloons into the sky and removing the crosses from 2023, Webb hopes they won't have to put up anymore.
"Don't bring the old 2023 into 2024. Let's do something different, little by little, inch by inch, change our ways of doing things and how we think, and how we treat one another. That's a good start," Webb said.
For more information on the foundation, please click here.