BATON ROUGE - Friday night, nearly a hundred participants rode together for Pedaling for Peace, the 7th annual gun violence awareness bike ride in Baton Rouge.

The event is hosted by Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broom and President Pro Tem Lamont Cole. It started at Shopper's Value parking lot on Government Street and went to Howell Park.

The event honored the families of those lost to gun violence. As riders pulled into Howell Park, they were encouraged to pick up orange flags and write the names of their lost loved ones. 

Oresa Napper-Williams is an activist who travels the country speaking out against gun violence after her son was shot and killed. She says hosting the event during gun violence awareness month is significant, but more needs to be done.

“I think the most important part is that when the month is over we turn that ‘m’ into a movement,” Napper-Williams said.

Other speakers shared messages of healing and reflection during a time of mourning and grief. 

"This is gun violence awareness month, and we just don't want it to be a month that we know has a label on it or a day that we just wear orange. We want to be reflective about what it means to end gun violence in our city,” Mayor Broome said.