“IT’S NOT OKAY.’’
That is the message going up on billboards around the city next month as part of an antiviolence awareness campaign by the Boston-based Mothers for Justice and Equality.
The signs, which feature smiling pictures of youths who were slain, were unveiled Saturday morning in Faith Christian Church in Dorchester at an event attended by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Councilor Ayanna Pressley, and other city officials. The billboards show one or more victims, their ages, and towering letters that say “Violence . . . IT’S NOT OKAY.’’
Mothers for Justice and Equality’s founder, Monalisa Smith hopes the signs send a strong message.
“We are saying we have not forgotten, that these lives matter,’’ Smith said. “Silence is not acceptance.’’
Smith founded Mothers for Justice and Equality, after her nephew, Eric Smith, was shot and killed in 2010. The group, whose members designed the posters, joins the relatives of homicide victims and other volunteers, who together conduct awareness campaigns and march to deter violence.
Eric Smith’s case, like the cases of other victims featured on the billboards, remains unsolved. He was gunned down in Grove Hall in September 2010, just weeks shy of his 19th birthday.
“I remember sitting in the emergency room that day thinking, ‘how does tomorrow happen?’ ’’ Smith said. “ ‘What are we going to do? How do you start a movement?’ ’’
Smith says that despite the commanding tone of the signs, which will appear on space donated by Clear Channel, the message of her group is one of “love, peace, and forgiveness.’’
“We want to sensitize’’ perpetrators of violence, she said. “It’s a balance. You need to have accountability, but in a nurturing way. We need to say, ‘I’m on your side.’ ’’
As the designs were unveiled, many of the mothers burst into tears, hugging each other and Menino.
The mayor said Smith’s group has his admiration and attention, having met personally with many of its members.
“I see these mothers, they’ve been through a lot of pain, anguish - they’ve been hurt,’’ Menino said in an interview. “But they stay determined. . . . They don’t want their loss to happen to anyone else.’’
Menino also praised the group for its activism.
“They go out and do outreach to families. That’s different. Most organizations like to sit in a room and discuss things. These mothers? Uh-uh. No, no, no. They’re out there in the streets, reaching out and saying, ‘I know this kid, let’s talk to him, let’s help him out, let’s give him a chance.’ ’’
Pressley said she could not comprehend the grief of losing a child.
“Sadly, they have PhDs in suffering and they’re authorities on violence. They’ve known profound loss. And we’re inspired by their example of strength. They’re channeling and harnessing that grief to ensure that no other families, no other mother knows that loss.’’
Pressley said she hopes the signs, which will start to go up next month, will help jar the public out of complacency and remind them to support their neighbors.
“The burden has to be shared and shouldered by all,’’ Pressley said. “We all lose when a life is lost. . . . It erodes at the fabric of us.’’
While nearly all of the group’s core members have a close family member, Mari Adams, 70, says both her son and her daughter were slain in their Roxbury neighborhood.
Her son, Michael, is featured on one of the billboards. His killing is still unsolved, something Adams hopes the signs might change.
But Adams said that putting Michael’s face on a sign is also a message to other families in her community.
“You can’t be silent,’’ she said. “You can’t. As long as you’re fearful, nothing ever happens.’’
Dan Adams can be reached at DAdams@globe.com and on Twitter at @DanielAdams86.