Hundreds of South Side youth, residents and community leaders gathered Wednesday to march through Bronzeville and Kenwood and demand justice for Chicago’s missing and murdered Black girls and women.
The ninth annual “We Walk for Her” march was organized by the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization through its youth-led Girls Lead program. The initiative was started in 2018 by then-13-year-old Aziyah Roberts, who sought to pressure city officials and law enforcement to investigate the deaths and disappearances of Black girls and women on Chicago’s South and West sides.
Since then, advocates have pushed state and local officials to devote greater attention to cases involving missing and murdered Black women and girls. Illinois established a Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force in 2023, and organizers are now urging Mayor Brandon Johnson to create a city office modeled after Minnesota’s Office for Missing and Murdered Black People to support families, share information and coordinate awareness efforts.
Timara, a youth leader with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, speaks during a press conference at Ellis Park, 3520 S. Cottage Grove Ave., before the ninth annual We Walk for Her march, June 3, 2026.
For Crystal Young, a youth organizer with KOCO, the issue is deeply personal.
“I feel like I’ve had to grow too fast, trading all of this joy of being a kid for a heavy, constant fear that follows me every time I walk down my own street,” Young said. “When I see one of these missing-person flyers, I don’t just see a photo. I see a girl who looked like me — someone who had big dreams, and someone whose family is now in a nightmare. I’m tired of us being treated like we’re invisible.”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, nearly 98,000 of the roughly 271,000 girls and women reported missing nationwide in 2022 were Black. Black girls and women accounted for 36% of missing girls and women despite representing about 14% of the nation’s female population.
According to Illinois’ Missing and Murdered Chicago Women Task Force, Black women and girls account for more than one-third of active missing persons cases in Chicago. In Cook County, they account for as many as 73% of homicide victims and 66% of intimate-partner homicide victims.
Community members and youth from the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization march south along the 4300 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue during the ninth annual We Walk for Her march, June 3, 2026.
Before the march, participants gathered with members of KOCO and community organizations including Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere and Missing and Murdered Black People. Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Chicago police officials also joined the event.
Taylor blasted disparities in media attention and public response.
“It’s not just thrown in your face that Black girls go missing more than anybody,” Taylor said. “We’re not giving the same attention. We know when our white counterparts go missing, you all bring out the dogs, the cats … Everybody comes out when those girls go missing. It does not happen the same for our young people.”
Taylor pointed to the case of Diamond and Tionda Bradley, sisters who disappeared from their South Side apartment in 2001 and have never been found. More than two decades later, the case remains open and investigators have released age-progressed images showing what the sisters might look like today.
Participants marched roughly two miles along Cottage Grove Avenue, from 35th Street to 51st Street, chanting “Stop and listen, our girls are missing!” and “Who do we walk for? We walk for her!”
The group periodically stopped at intersections to continue chanting and perform for passersby. Drivers frequently responded with honks of support.
Jonathan St. Claire, Duncan Tran and Keenan Wormely Jr. of the Stick and Moves dance crew perform at the intersection of Cottage Grove Avenue and 43rd Street during the ninth annual We Walk for Her march, June 3, 2026.
Glen Brooks, director of community policing for the Chicago Police Department, said the department remains committed to working with families and community organizations to locate missing people and bring cases to resolution.
“This is really about families. This is about families who are missing their loved ones and are wondering every single day,” Brooks said. “This department is committed to bringing resolution to those families, and we will continue to work on that.
“We are excited that we’ve been invited to participate, and we’re going to continue to stand with these families, and we will walk for her until we have resolution to these issues.”
Louvenia Hood, executive director of Mothers Opposed to Violence Everywhere, said participants intend to keep pushing for answers.
“We’re not going to quit! We’re going to keep walking and walking!” Hood said as she marched alongside the youth organizers. “What are we going to do, young people? Keep walking! What are we going to do, young people? Keep walking!”
