100 March for Peace, Remember Slayings

Spurred by too many mothers grieving too many children, about 100 residents took a step toward reclaiming their streets Saturday in the city’s first-ever march for peace.

Holding handmade signs and photographs, almost every marcher also carried a personal tale of tragedy--a son slain, a brother buried, all casualties of a string of gang-related homicides in Oxnard.

Surrounded by her children, who held framed photographs of a handsome, dark-eyed young man, Suzie Pech-Torres attended to remember son Tony, who was killed in Oxnard in March.

“We just celebrated his birthday--he would have been 25,” she said. “I miss him very much. He was my best friend, a precious person in my life.”

Her lower lip trembling, Pech-Torres added, “I have five other children left. There can be peace--there has to be.”

Prompted by the death of Pech-Torres’ son and more than a dozen other Oxnard residents this year, a group called Community for Unity/Comunidad Para La Unidad sponsored the morning’s events. The goal was finding an end to the city’s gang-related strife.

“There is fear in the community,” said Jorge Gutierrez, one of the march’s organizers. “We’re trying to send a message to stop the violence, whether it be brown, white, black or yellow. We have to stop it.”

To that end, the residents crafted an altar dotted with candles, flowers and tributes to the dead. Holding hands, they circled the small shrine at the Oxnard Community Center before taking to the streets.

Children gathered on corners and parents peered out curtains to watch the walkers on their mile-long route through blocked-off streets. As marchers chanted “Stop the Violence, Para La Violencia,” neighbors waved and clapped their approval.

Afterward, people talked of the gang problem and elusive solutions.

“We never used to hear about these things,” said local boxer Roberto Garcia. “It’s just over the past two years that we’ve seen these killings. It scares everyone. It’s not safe to be out late at night.”

Garcia, who has spoken in schools about the value of athletics, work and education, said he hopes to be a role model for young people.

Like Garcia, Father Anthony Guillen mourns Oxnard’s lack of positive activities for young people. It takes a sociologist to explain the roots of gang warfare, he said, but common sense suggests that soccer fields and after-school activities couldn’t hurt.

“We’ve got to do something proactive and active for youth,” Guillen said. “We can’t just keep building jails.”

Lifelong resident Dennis Contreras agreed.

“This is our community, Oxnard,” he said. “These are our youth who are killing each other. If we don’t do something about it, no one will.”

Coming together was a positive first step, marchers said, but some couldn’t help but be disappointed that their worthy cause did not attract more participants.

“This is a city of--what, seventy, eighty, ninety-thousand people?--and this is all we can get?” asked Al Medina, who lives in the El Rio section of Oxnard. “There should be thousands of people.”