The Wear Orange campaign, which was inspired by the 2013 death of a teen who was mistakenly shot by gang members in a Chicago park, coincides with National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 3.
Since 2015, the first Friday in June has been designated as National Gun Violence Awareness Day to honor gun violence survivors and victims.
Why Is Everyone Wearing Orange Today
The Wear Orange campaign, which was inspired by the 2013 death of a boy who was mistakenly shot by gang members in a Chicago park, coincides with National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 3.
Hadiya Pendleton, 15, was fatally shot on a Chicago playground on January 29, 2013, and her childhood friends began wearing orange as a tribute and to commemorate her life.
Hunters in the woods wear this color to protect themselves and others.
“There were a lot of emotions going on after we lost Hadiya,” stated Nza-Ari Khepra, a founder member and president of Project Orange Tree, a group founded by Pendleton’s friends, to CNN in 2015.
“The discussion sparked participation from students and people of the community.”
Candlelight vigils and food drives were held by members of the local community, who wore orange.
According to Khepra, the color orange was chosen to reflect the worth of human life and to convey that wearers do not want to be the next victim of gun violence.
What began as a tiny initiative at a Chicago high school swiftly developed into a statewide campaign to prevent gun violence in the United States, led by Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun-control advocacy nonprofit.
Amnesty Worldwide, a human rights organization concentrating on international non-governmental organizations, picked up the campaign, as did following organizations such as Americans for Responsible Solutions, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and the Caliber Foundation.
According to the campaign’s website, “thousands of people wear orange to memorialize Hadiya and the more than 40,000 people killed with weapons and nearly 85,000 people shot and wounded every year.”
“We hold Wear Orange events to honor the lives of those who have died as a result of gun violence and to raise awareness about this public health epidemic.”
Every day, more than 110 Americans are killed by guns, and more than 200 are shot and injured, according to the campaign.
“Physical and emotional healing will be a lifelong process for these individuals,” it says.
