LOS ANGELES (CNS) — The Walk to End Genocide was held Sunday in the Fairfax district, seeking to raise funds and awareness while seeking to inspire people of all faiths and cultures to join the ongoing fight against genocide.
The walk included what was described as a unity program, including speakers representing the Armenian, Congolese, Rohingya, Uyghur, Tigrayan and Indigenous communities.
Speakers included:
- Los Angeles City Councilwoman Katy Yaroslavsky
- Assemblywoman Laura Friedman, D-Glendale
- Camille Ntoto, a co-founder of Africa New Day, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit organization which seeks to change the Democratic Republic of Congo through empowerment
- Sarkis Balkhian, the Western Region executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America
- Nurnisa Kurban, of UyghurLA, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that works to promote the preservation of the Uyghur culture and supports the right of the Uyghur people to use peaceful, democratic means to determine their own political future
The 1.8-mile walk began at Television City, went past the Holocaust Museum in Pan Pacific Park, The Grove shopping center, Writers Guild America West headquarters and Farmers Market.
Nearly $100,000 was raised to support the education and advocacy work of Jewish World Watch, which organizes the walk, and fund the organization's international empowerment projects, according to Jeff Hensiek, its senior director of communications and marketing.
An estimated 350 people participated, Hensiek said.
"JWW was honored to walk side-by-wide with communities of all faiths and backgrounds against genocide," executive director Serena Oberstein said. "We were thrilled to bring back the Walk to End Genocide and thankful to those who donated and walked as an expression of our shared commitment to uplift those who seek justice from targeted persecution."
Jewish World Watch bills itself as "an expression of Judaism in action, bringing help and healing to survivors of mass atrocities around the globe and seeking to inspire people of all faiths and cultures to join the ongoing fight against genocide."