On January 8, 2012, Koinonia Baptist Church held a vigil to both acknowledge the anniversary of the mass shooting involving Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and to acknowledge the 196 victims of murder in Baltimore in 2011. Bishop Douglas I. Miles was the organizer of the event, which was one of many across the nation conducted in collaboration with the Brady Campaign.
The vigil began at 1:00 p.m. culminating the worship day for the church with more than 70 people in attendance. Central to the event were testimonies of those who suffered loss due to violence. Brittany Leavy, a senior at Dunbar High, recounted the experience of losing her best friend, an innocent bystander who was killed by gunshots intended for someone else in 2011. She spoke of the sense of loss and the devastating pain she still carries. Randolph Bradley, a deacon of Koinonia, spoke of the pain now suffered by his grandson due to the loss of his father to gun violence.
Bishop Miles spoke of the need for the whole community to come together to break the covenant with death and violence that seems to pervade the city despite the recent drop in murders and other violent crimes in Baltimore and statewide. Rev. Dante K. Miles, pastor, led the vigil in a prayer for peace. The singing of hymns and other spiritual music punctuated the gathering. Later Bishop Miles recounted how much the vigil was needed because most present had either experienced violence first hand or was close to someone who had. Plans are to conduct the vigil on an annual basis.
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