In a small room toward the back of the downtown public library on Thursday night, a woman spoke resolutely into a microphone.
"David Wyatt," she called out.
A woman stood up from the crowd in front of the microphone, one of 100 people who had packed into the room that evening, all wearing various articles of orange clothing.
She was clutching a headshot of Staff Sgt. David Wyatt, one of the victims from the shootings on July 16 last year, and walked to the front of the room, now facing the crowd.
"Carson Holmquist. Thomas Sullivan," the speaker said as other members of the crowd came forward.
The names came one after another, 29 in total - all deceased victims of gun violence in Chattanooga since June 1, 2015, right up to Bianca Horton, a woman who was found gunned down on Missionary Ridge last week.
The occasion was the second annual Wear Orange event for National Gun Violence Awareness Day, a pointed rejection of the rampant violence that has plagued the city, causing mothers to lock up their children indoors and giving grown men reason to fear walking down their streets.
For the mothers, children, cousins, police officers and everybody in between who came to fellowship, it was an opportunity to remember the pain of those lost to gun violence over the last year, but it was also an opportunity to speak out about their hopes for change moving forward.
"Bullets don't stop," said assistant police chief David Roddy. "It continues on through that individual and strikes every member of that family."
Multiple speakers, all of them either direct or indirect victims of gun violence, spoke throughout the event. They called for an end to the insanity, but more than that, they called for reconciliation.
"Find it somewhere in your heart to forgive. Press on. Help somebody else," said officer Lydell Blue, who was himself shot in the face several years ago.
Mary Alverson, the mother of Peyton Hogan, one of the 29 victims listed by the speaker, spoke at length about her own experience and the need for change. She said she still supports the Second Amendment, but gunowners need to learn how to handle and use their firearms responsibly.
"These things can kill," she said.
Several of those in attendance said change can't possibly happen overnight and it will require the involvement of everyone in the city. But, they also said that effort is worth it because when someone, anyone, is killed, they leave behind a community in mourning.
As the program drew to a close, a singer led the group in a call-and-response song - a prayer for tomorrow.
"Oh healing river, send down your waters. Send down your waters upon this land. Oh healing river, send down your waters. Wash the blood from off the sand."
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.