June is a big month for gun violence awareness, and we'd love for you to join us for some of of the upcoming events.

 WEAR ORANGE

 When high school student Hadiya Pendleton was shot and killed in 2013, her friends turned their grief into action, and wore orange, the color hunters use to signal "don't shoot", in order to raise awareness about gun violence, its victims, and its survivors. Since then the movement has grown, and the first Friday in June is now recognized as National Gun Violence Awareness Day. 

 This year, over the weekend of June 7-9, we'll honor all lives taken and injured by gun violence as part of National Gun Violence Awareness Day and Wear Orange Weekend. Numerous communities and organizations are hosting events throughout the state. Click the RSVP button below to find and sign up for an event near you.

SILENCE THE VIOLENCE

 Seventeen years ago, the members of the Church of the Messiah in Detroit hosted the first Silence the Violence March and Rally and have continued the tradition each June. The march brings the community together to commemorate the victims of gun violence, and has now grown into a thousand person event. Organizations, leaders, and the neighborhood all come together to march, remember, and stand against gun violence.

 Last year they took their movement statewide and are continuing to do so this year, turning June into Gun Violence Awareness Month in Michigan.

 Numerous hosts are holding a variety of events from marches and rallies, to resource fairs, to educational programs, to movie screenings all across the state during June. Many of these events are listed on the Wear Orange website, on the Demand Action app, or the Moms Demand Action website. You can also check for additional events at the End Gun Violence Michigan website.

People all across Michigan are coming together this June to show the power of orange and to spread a simple message: We can end gun violence! We and other gun violence prevention organizations are counting on you to be with us.

 Will you join us? RSVP now.

 Even if you can't join us in person, you can still raise awareness of gun violence by wearing orange on Friday, June 7, taking a photo of yourself, and sharing it on social media with #WearOrange. You can heighten the impact of your post by sharing why you wear orange. Examples: "I #Wear Orange in honor of my beloved child [Insert Name]", "I #WearOrange for the 120 who are killed and 200 wounded with guns each day in the US", etc. You can find more ideas and resources on spreading the word and raising awareness through social media via the Wear Orange social media toolkit.

 Hope to see you at one of these events in June or wearing orange on social media.

 Want to find out how you can get even more involved? Just write back! I'd love to be in touch.

 Ann Anderson (she/her)

Michigan Chapter Co-Lead

Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America