A Call to End Violence in D.C.

"We have to be ever vigilant," Barnes said. "Our children are being killed. They are becoming killers. We can't let our guards down."

Virginia Williams, the mother of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), showed up to support the event.

"I'm here. I'll always be here for you," she said before leading the singing of the national anthem.

D.C. Council member Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large) also attended.

While children headed for the pool and went to ride horses brought in for the occasion, volunteers from the Woodland Foundation and ROOT sweated over grills, unwrapped potato salad and passed out drinks. Then people lined up for burgers, hot dogs, chips and punch. The T.D. Jakes song "Where Are the Fathers" rang out from speakers: "There's a conversation, it might begin today . . . Where are the fathers . . . ?"

Moore, reflecting on his run-ins with violence, wondered about solutions and at times sounded frustrated.

"It's so hard because we've had organizations for many years," he said. "But it's so hard to convince a kid not to do wrong."

Yesterday's picnic and parade were aimed at showing the youths who swam and ate and soaked in the summer rays that, as Woodland said, guns and violence aren't natural or normal.

"It's nice to get kids off the street and get them at a community event," said Alonte King, 15, drum major of the Tigers Marching Band. "It makes me think that other people besides my parents care about my safety."