Benton Harbor High School students to lead peace walk Thursday

BENTON HARBOR, Mich. -- Benton Harbor High School is looking to bring together over 500 students, educators, parents, and community members on Thursday morning with its Annual Community Peace Walk and Peace Day Reunion.

The event will begin at 8:15 a.m. with a peaceful march from the high school to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Monument at City Center Park, followed by a return to the school campus for continued celebration and reflection until the event concludes at 11 a.m.

"This event serves as the grand finale of a transformative Civil Rights Trail Tour recently completed by 38 Benton Harbor High School students, who traveled to key sites in Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, and Selma," said Benton Harbor Area Schools Communications Specialist Shantel Booth.

"These students walked the same streets where legends of the Civil Rights Movement marched, prayed, and fought for justice. They also marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma."

This year, those students will lead the event, and organizers say the peace walk is their way of bringing that inspiration home to the entire community.

A group of organizers including Family & Community Engagement Specialist at BHHS and co-organizer of the event Cindy Goodson, along with Peace Day founder and creator Elnora Gavin, and Civil Rights Tour Chaperones Maurice Burton, Dr. Regina Strother, Alvin Gray, and Joyce Perkins, and an exciting team of staff and students, put out the following statement:

“This is more than just a walk. It’s a statement of unity, peace, and purpose. By walking together to the MLK Monument in our own city, we are tying the lessons of history to our present hope and future promise. This walk represents the leadership our students are stepping into.”

The peace walk also marks a major checkpoint of the 90-Day Peace4Life Challenge and Pledge, a student-led initiative calling for nonviolence, respect, and community responsibility.

"If our students are peaceful, our schools are more peaceful, their homes will be more peaceful, and our community will be more peaceful," said Elnora Gavin.

Physically able participants will walk back to the high school immediately following. We encourage a caravan of drivers to follow for those who have physical challenges.

Organizers say official Peace Over Everything Shirts will be available on a first-come, first-served basis to those who have committed to the challenge.

Participants can go to peaceday247.com today and click the “Take the 90 Day Peace4Life Challenge” link to complete the short challenge questionnaire and recite the pledge.

Community members, media, and local leaders are invited to attend, support, and walk alongside the students in this historic moment of reflection, unity, and hope.

The event begins at the Benton Harbor High School Peace Garden (at the front of the campus) with a libation ceremony and student reflections, proceeds to the MLK Monument at City Center Park, and then returns to the BHHS campus for food, music, and fellowship.