CT Against Gun Violence is excited to announce that this year’s Wear Orange event to observe National Gun Violence Awareness Day will take place on the New Haven Green on Thursday, June 2 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. We’ll focus on the public health crisis of community gun violence, and how it disproportionately victimizes Black and brown communities in Connecticut.

Wear Orange was inspired by the friends of Hadiya Pendleton, a 15-year-old Chicago student killed by gunfire just days after participating in President Obama’s 2013 inauguration. Because orange was Hadiya’s favorite color, and it’s the color hunters use to protect themselves, her friends decided to honor her life by wearing orange on June 2, her birthday. This tradition has continued annually with observations across the country on her birthday and the weekend following.

Wear Orange is an event to honor victims, celebrate survivors and renew our pledge to work together to end gun violence. We hope you will join us on the New Haven Green on June 2, 2022.