The emotions permeating the atmosphere were clear as young protestors of all ages gathered around their political leaders, teachers, parents, and relatives of the late Angellyh Yambo at a rally organized during Gun Violence Awareness Month to honor their 16-year-old school friend.

Angellyh was tragically and fatally killed in broad daylight by a stray bullet just north of the Mott Haven border on Friday, April 8, as she walked home from school. Two of her friends were also shot and injured during the same incident. Jeremiah Ryan, 17, was later charged with murder and attempted murder in connection with the shootings which took place a few blocks from Angellyh’s high school, University Prep Charter School.

Two months later, on June 8, Angellyh’s school friends could be heard defiantly chanting, “Enough is enough!” as they marched around the block of the South Bronx school, located at 600 St. Ann’s Avenue. They were joined by Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson and Rep. Ritchie Torres (NY-15) who spoke to the students fervently, commending them for their action in arranging the march and honoring the memory of their friend.

Gibson addressed the crowd first, speaking with passion and sincerity. “Your life matters, Angie’s life mattered, Kyhara’s life mattered,” she said, the latter in reference to 11-year-old Kyhara Tay, who was also tragically and fatally killed in crossfire during a separate daylight shooting incident on Fox Street in the South Bronx on Monday, May 16, at 4.50 p.m. One unnamed 15-year-old, as well as 18-year-old Omar Bojang were later arrested in connection with the fatal shooting.

“I stand with you,” Gibson told the students during the rally. “I proudly wear orange. Orange is a sign of peace. We want peace in our streets, peace in our neighborhoods, peace on our blocks, peace on the corners, peace in the schools, peace in the parks, peace in the playgrounds. We want peace everywhere! The only way we do it is by standing up and not giving up.”

The borough president later suggested that while mass shootings such as those that had occurred in Buffalo, in upstate New York on May 14 and in Uvalde, TX on May 24 were generally widely condemned and etched into people’s consciousness, daily shootings in The Bronx, though initially shocking, seemed to have a tendency to fade quickly from public memory and not receive the same level of long-term attention.

“When the cameras are gone, when everyone returns to day-to-day normalcy, we forget about this violence,” Gibson said. “We focus on national mass shootings that are happening across the country, but we don’t remember the everyday shootings that happen in our city, in our borough almost every day and the victims and the suspects all look alike, come from the same communities, younger and younger and younger. We are killing our future,” she added. “[But] in the midst of pain, we will find purpose. In the midst of a storm, we will find strength.”

Torres commended the youth for being the generation that he said would end gun violence and make a stand against it. “The adults in Washington D.C. have been failing you,” he said. “You’re the generation that’s going to save us. You’re the generation that is going to deliver justice and gun safety.”

The congressman later called out gun manufacturers for their role in deaths caused by shootings, and proclaimed that the National Rifle Association (NRA) had “blood on its hands.” He added, “Enough is enough.” Torres continued, “Angie should be alive today,” he said. “She should be with us today. She represented what was best in The Bronx and what was best in our city, but her life was cut short by gun violence and here in The Bronx, we have been hit the hardest by gun violence, and if we don’t stand up to the epidemic of gun violence, no one else will.”

During an interview later with Norwood News, Torres criticized his fellow congressional representatives who were pro-life politicians, saying, “If you’re in public service, and you’re not willing to stand for the safety of children and teenagers, then what good are you?” He added, “The Republican Party claims to be pro-life, but if you refuse to protect the lives of children and teenagers, then there is no sense in which you are meaningfully pro-life.”

Gibson continued, “As a state, Gov. Hochul signed a package of legislation this week into law; I’m grateful for that, and we know that’s going to protect New Yorkers, but that won’t protect us from a gun coming from Georgia or coming from South Carolina, and that’s why national attention is important.” She added, “Our Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and [U.S.] Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have been at the forefront, pushing for comprehensive gun control legislation, but we need bipartisan support.”

The borough president then went on to take aim at U.S. Senate Republicans for not acting sooner on gun safety legislation. “Those damn Senate Republicans that refuse to act that sometimes, I think, they don’t care. If we didn’t act after Sandy Hook, what are we doing?” she said, referring, of course, to the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Newtown, CT on Dec. 14, 2012, in which a gunman shot 27 people dead, including 20 children and seven adults, including the shooter’s own mother, before later shooting himself. Two other people were also shot but survived.

“Uvalde has happened,” Gibson added. “When are we going to protect children in classrooms, Black Americans in supermarkets, Latinos in bodegas, like when are we going to protect all of our people? We need Senate Republicans to also agree that gun violence is a national epidemic that must be addressed on the federal level.” Norwood News reached out to the U.S. Republican Party for comment on this story and will update it upon receipt of any response.

Despite the criticism, most were touched by the actions of the young marchers on the day. A few of the students even spoke at the rally, reading out statements they had written. They talked of their own fears of being shot, whether in the streets or at school, and how they were tired of being afraid.

“I am tired! I am tired of hearing how many people have lost their lives to gun violence!” one student named Fatimah said. “I am tired of having to wake up every day and adapt to life without someone I saw yesterday. I am tired of hearing the screams of mothers who know they will never see their children again.”

As the teenagers’ speeches continued, the message of fear and fatigue was clear, and the fear of being killed by gun violence extended to their peers and family members. According to middle school counselor, Yolainny Minaya, preparation for the rally followed a lot of engagement on the topic of gun violence between staff and students. She said middle school students, at least, had received advisory lessons over the previous two weeks on the topic, what it is and how it affects them.

“More so about the inequities around why gun violence happens,” Minaya told Norwood News. “She [Angellyh] was not able to have the chance that many other kids in other communities get to have, like walking home safely, going to and from school, and also just to raise awareness.”

Minaya continued, “It’s about the intersectionalities of gun violence; we have deficits in our community, programs… we don’t have trash cans in the corners.. We just wanted them to understand that it [the problem] was bigger than just that [gun violence],” she said.

Awareness of the plight of middle schoolers and high schoolers was certainly evident as the youngsters took to the streets around their school neighborhood, yelling out chants and carrying signs with images of Angellyh, along with the words, “Stand Up for Angellyh!” Other homemade signs displayed various other messages like, “No Guns, No Violence. Protect Kids @School.” All along the route, a sea of orange blockaded the streets as police escorted the protestors to their destination, making sure they were kept safe.

Yanely Henriquez, Angellyh’s mom, had previously issued a statement following her daughter’s death in April, describing her as a “young, beautiful soul, who had her whole life ahead of her.” She added, “We cherish the memory of Angie – a smart, talented, and caring young woman who lost her life too soon to this senseless act of violence. Please keep our family in your prayers during this difficult time.”

Spearheaded by Angellyh’s aunt, Mary Hernandez, the family is currently in the process of setting up a foundation in Angellyh’s memory to raise awareness of and help prevent gun violence.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.