Vice President Kamala Harris to Mark #WearOrange in Springfield, Virginia on Friday
Gun Safety Advocates, Survivors, Elected Leaders and More to Gather At More Than 400 Events Across 50 States and Washington, D.C. to Honor Victims and Survivors of Gun Violence
NEW YORK — Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund today announced that Friday, June 2 will mark National Gun Violence Awareness Day and the beginning of Wear Orange weekend, June 3–4. For the ninth year, hundreds of thousands of people across the country will join together and wear orange to honor survivors of gun violence and demand a future free from gun violence. So far, there are more than 400 #WearOrange events scheduled across 50 states and Washington D.C., featuring Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, other gun safety advocates, elected leaders, community partners and more who will gather to honor the lives of those affected by gun violence and connect people with ways they can help to end gun violence in their communities. In addition to events, a coalition of cultural influencers, elected officials, corporate brands, nonprofit partner organizations and a series of buildings, billboards and landmarks will join advocates to honor National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange weekend.
Wear Orange originated on June 2, 2015 — what would have been Hadiya Pendleton’s 18th birthday. It began with teenagers who wanted to honor their friend, Hadiya, after she was shot and killed on a playground in Chicago a little over one week after marching as a majorette in President Obama’s second inaugural parade. Now, Wear Orange honors Hadiya and the 120 people shot and killed every day in the United States, as well as the hundreds more who are shot and wounded and the countless others who witness acts of gun violence. Advocates across the country will unite to call for an end to all forms of gun violence, including domestic violence, firearm suicide, mass shootings, police shootings, city gun violence, and more.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years since Hadiya’s death, but it warms my heart to see that once again, hundreds of thousands of people across the country continue to celebrate her legacy and the lives of far too many others impacted by our nation’s gun violence crisis,” said Cleopatra Cowley, mother of Hadiya Pendleton and Co-Founder of Hadiya’s Promise. “All of this orange means that Hadiya is not forgotten, that survivors and their allies are standing tall and proud, and that our families deserve to live without the threat of senseless gun violence.”
“Wear Orange Weekend is a chance for Americans to come together and work toward a future where everyone can live free from the fear of gun violence,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “With gun violence now the leading cause of death for America’s young people, the nation’s future hinges on our ability to take common-sense steps to stop the shooting.”
“When advocates and partners on every level come together and raise their voices in unison, the gun violence prevention movement only grows more powerful,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action. “This Wear Orange, we revere the strength of gun violence survivors, and stand shoulder to shoulder with so many fierce community leaders as we demand a safer future.”
In honor of Wear Orange this year, Everytown Support Fund is once again partnering with community organizations in collaboration with local Moms Demand Action groups to fund and provide support to 10 unique Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) projects across the country through the Everytown Community Safety Fund. Each project and grant recipient is unique — from restoring vacant lots to creating community art installations — but all projects involve deliberate efforts to change the built environment, reduce crime and increase community safety in communities disproportionately impacted by gun violence. Local volunteers with Moms Demand Action will work in collaboration with grantees to implement CPTED projects over the course of the next few months. In addition, Local Initiatives Support Corp (LISC), national leaders in implementing CPTED projects, will provide 10 hours of technical assistance to each grant recipient and collaborating volunteer group in order to ensure projects center community voices.
The following organizations are 2023 Wear Orange CPTED grant recipients:
- Advancement Corporation Community Center — Lansing, MI
- Heal Charlotte — Charlotte, NC
- All I Know Foundation — Los Angeles, CA
- Carpenter Art Garden — Memphis, TN
- Summer Leadership Academy — Chicago, IL
- Speakezie Go Hard — Cleveland, OH
- Clean the Block — Dallas, TX
- Let’s Thrive Baltimore — Baltimore, MD
- Melquain Jatelle Anderson Foundation — NYC, NY
- Home Beneath Our Feet — Buffalo, NY
Starting tomorrow, Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers, in collaboration with the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and local partners from across the country, will host more than 400 hundred Wear Orange events and activities across 50 states and Washington D.C. Notable events include:
- Thursday, June 1: In advance of National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange weekend, Students Demand Action is hosting a national Wear Orange Summit in collaboration with the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS). The summit will feature community partners such as Guitars Over Guns and Youth Alive, former NFL player and survivor Stedman Bailey, elected officials such as Congressman Maxwell Frost (FL-10), and survivors of gun violence; and Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKee will issue a proclamation declaring Friday, June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day;
- Friday, June 2: A National Gun Violence Awareness Day event in Springfield, Virginia with Vice President Kamala Harris; Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff and Moms Demand Action founder Shannon Watts will participate in the Washington Mystics’Wear Orange Youth Basketball Clinic; a candlelight vigil in Buffalo, New York; a community memorial in East St. Louis, Illinois in honor of Moms Demand Action volunteer and gun violence survivor La’Tatia Stewart, who was shot and killed earlier this month; Colorado Governor Jared Polis will issue a proclamation declaring Friday, June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and sign legislation to address the threat of ghost guns; and a cleanup and gardening event in Charlotte, North Carolina in partnership with Heal Charlotte, a CPTED grantee;
- Saturday, June 3: Brooklyn Bridge March in New York City, New York; a Peace Walk and Healing Yoga event in Los Angeles, California in partnership with Urban Peace Institute; a gardening event in Baltimore, Maryland in partnership with Let’s Thrive Baltimore, a CPTED grantee; community cleanups in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Fargo, North Dakota; and Wear Orange community events in Atlanta, Georgia with Congresswoman Lucy McBath (GA-07), Las Vegas, Nevada with Congresswoman Dina Titus (NV-01), Cincinnati, Ohio, Overland Park, Kansas, Loris, South Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee, and;
- Sunday, June 4: Golden Gate Bridge March in San Francisco and a mural painting in Los Angeles, California in partnership with All I Know Foundation, a CPTED grantee.
**please contact [email protected] for additional time and location details or for these events or any events in other cities**
The Wear Orange campaign will also showcase the breadth of the gun violence prevention movement. Details announced today include:
- Wear Orange is once again collaborating with athletes, including support from more than 50 professional sports teams, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Connecticut Sun, Detroit Pistons, Houston Dash, Minnesota United FC, Phoenix Mercury, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Antonio Spurs, San Jose Sharks, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Seahawks, and Washington Mystics.
- Rolling Stone designed a special edition t-shirt in honor of National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange this year. In addition to creating the t-shirt, Rolling Stone will make a donation to Everytown Support Fund.
- More than 20 corporate brands are supporting Wear Orange including media brands OBB Media, Parents, Penguin Random House, and Care.com.
- More than 100 landmarks, buildings and billboards across the country will turn orange, including the Empire State Building, Niagara Falls, Coit Tower, Aloha Tower, The Nashville Sign, Lamar Advertising Company digital billboards, and 20 stadiums and arenas.
- More than 50 non-profit organizations and faith partners across various issue areas will continue to join the campaign in turning orange this weekend with groups like the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, Next Gen America, American Academy of Pediatrics, Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism, National Organization for Women, USOW, Building Back Together, the Collective PAC, National PTA, Fierce Madres, and many more taking part in Wear Orange.
- Members of Congress and Administration officials will wear orange, post on social media, and attend events across the country. Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Springfield, Virginia to highlight the Biden Administration’s commitment to gun violence prevention. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Robin Kelly (D-IL-02) have introduced resolutions recognizing June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day and June as National Gun Violence Awareness Month to honor Hadiya’s birthday – June 2, 1997 – and to remember all victims and survivors of gun violence.
- More than 100 mayors from across the country will participate in the Wear Orange campaign including Mayor Justin Bibb (Cleveland, OH), Mayor Frank Scott (Little Rock, AR), Mayor Regina Romero (Tucson, AZ), Mayor Quinton Lucas (Kansas City, MO),and Mayor Phillip Jones (Newport News, VA) by issuing proclamations declaring June 2 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, lighting municipal landmarks orange, and posting on social media.
For more details about events happening Wear Orange weekend, please contact [email protected]. More information about Wear Orange is available at WearOrange.org.
