About 40 people marched a half-mile down the sidewalk along Woodlane Drive in Little Rock on Sunday afternoon, many of them waving and calling out, "Stop the violence!" as cars drove by.

Reggie Swinton, a Little Rock resident and former wide receiver with the Dallas Cowboys, walked at the head of the group, leading participants from West 11th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Drive to the Little Rock Nine Civil Rights Memorial north of the state Capitol.

Swinton, now 39 and football director of Arkansas' Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), said the group's mission was to stand against crime in Little Rock and set an example for kids, especially those in the football league.

"There's so much crime," Swinton said. "These kids need role models. I hope they go to school and tell their peers they were part of something good."

Stop the Violence, an advocacy organization with the goal of preventing black-on-black crime, worked with Swinton and AAU football coach James Cain to host the march Sunday. Once the group arrived at the memorial about 2:30 p.m., the Rev. Benny Johnson -- founder of Stop the Violence -- gave a brief speech, noting that he started the organization in 1991 because of escalating crime.

This year, the shooting death of a 44-year-old woman on July 26 marked the 30th killing in Little Rock. The total homicides in 2013 was 36.

"I was sick and tired of the homicides going on in this city," Johnson told the crowd. "I still am."

Participants in the march, many of them 7- to 12-year-old AAU football players with their parents, huddled in the shade and listened as a few speakers challenged people to become more involved in their children's lives and play a more active role in the community.

"It starts in the home," said Avery Page, assistant director of Stop the Violence. "Things will be stopped if we put our hand in these kids' lives."

Swinton also had a message for the AAU players present.

"Sports were my way out, but it might not be yours," he said. "You gotta find what you like in life and do it 110 percent."

Metro on 08/25/2014