Two days after 66-year-old Thomas Romerson was fatally shot near a church in Oakland, California, community members gathered near the site of the shooting to take a stand against gun violence in the city.

Almost 40 people, including children, young adults, and senior citizens, gathered near At Thy Word Ministries in the city’s East Oakland neighborhood last Friday, carrying picket signs that read “Walking the Path of Peace” and “Steps for Peace”.

Romerson’s was the 36th shooting death in Oakland this year. Although the city has seen a dramatic decrease in gun violence – a new Guardian investigation found gun homicides have dropped 44% over the past ten years – the recent deaths are a troubling reminder for longtime residents of the persistent burden of gun violence. Black residents remain far more likely than white residents to be killed with a gun.

“When you start talking about that number, and it’s just June, you start to feel hopeless,” said Billy Dixon, the pastor of At Thy Word Ministries. “The hopelessness makes you cry, makes you stay up at night.”

Dixon said he and his wife had left the church less than 10 minutes before Romerson was killed on the same block on 12 June.

Dixon’s church is a regular meeting place for Ceasefire night walks, during which volunteers walk through communities affected by gun violence to spread a message of peace and connect residents with community and social services. Since most shootings in urban communities happen between 8pm and midnight, walkers take to the streets to give words of encouragement to people who may be at risk of being victims or perpetrators.

The walks are a regular feature of Ceasefire programs across the country. Operation Ceasefire is a violence reduction program piloted in Boston in the late 90s that coordinates the efforts of law enforcement, social services and community organizers to reach the people who are more likely to engage in gang-related gun violence. In Oakland, the program is seen as a crucial driver of the decline in gun violence.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Oakland residents look at a memorial for victims of gun violence during a peace walk. Photograph: Tim Hussin/The Guardian

Ceasefire walks in Oakland tend to be composed of middle-aged and elderly residents, many of whom are a part of the faith community. But on Friday, young black residents fortified the walk after the Oakland community organizer Joseph “Church” Truehill put out a call on social media.

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Truehill, 33, has held “peace walks” in Oakland since the summer of 2016. Like Ceasefire volunteers, he is adamant about including young black men, especially the ones who are more likely to be victims or perpetrators of gun violence.

“There’s no point in me having a peace walk with only people who go to church every Sunday,” Truehill said. “It’s not really affecting the people.”

Truehill is admittedly new to this sort of activism, but he believes that collaborating on these types of demonstrations can be a starting point for others to get involved in violence reduction work.

“It’s not for everyone but it is a different way to express yourself and be positive,” Truehill said.

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Truehill says he sold drugs and carried a gun when he was a teen and young adult, but he began to change his life after his younger brother was shot and killed. Now he’s growing into a credible messenger for young residents who live with the trauma that comes with living in a community where gun violence is common.

“A lot of people will see me and say, ‘Ain’t that “Church”, who had to beat up that dude in the middle of the street in 2010?’” Truehill says. “And they’ll know that I’m with the shit, so it’s easier for people to understand and listen to me.”

Demardre Taylor, 27, was one of the young community members joining the Ceasefire walk for the first time. “I’ve had a lot of different friends and family members killed over simple misunderstandings. I’ve had to watch certain things that I do and say,” Taylor said.

Terri Lynn Haggins, a veteran walker, said she tells young men to watch their backs. “Because I think of them as being my sons. I’m old enough to be the mother and grandmother of a lot of the young men we see,” she said before leaving the church.