Joliet march returns at Will County Take Back the Night

The names of 61 women and children, ages 1 to 89, were read out loud at a vigil that was part of Will County Take Back the Night on Thursday.

They were all homicide victims in just the past 10 years in Will County, a toll that tells the reason for the annual gathering that shows support for victims of domestic violence and vows to do something about it.

The event was held virtually the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So, Take Back the Night on Thursday was a return to the streets for those who came and marched along a section of Larkin Avenue in Joliet.

“This year will be my 21st year marching,” said Tiffany Byas of Joliet. “I’ve marched for so many. Number one is my mom. My mother was murdered in a triple homicide in 2001.”

Byas remembers her mother, Marilyn Byas, but also two cousins. Ladeanna Hite was killed in 2008, and Ashley Tucker was killed in 2018.

“That’s why it’s so important that I come here every year,” Byas said.

Byas was among the women who stood up and lined the aisles of the auditorium at Hufford Junior High School for each of the victim’s names that were read and gave a sense of the magnitude of impact of domestic violence.

“We march for those who cannot,” Take Back The Night Committee Co-Chairperson Amirrah Abou-Youssef said after the names were read. “We speak for the voiceless. For those who are here, may they never be added to the list.”

Among the aims of Take Back the Night is to provide women with information and resources that are available to get away from violent spouses and partners. The event included a resource fair, and some of those who took part teared up as they talked about the importance of the cause.

Just making signs for the march can be an emotional experience, said Chrissy Monaco, president of the Joliet Junior Women’s Club.

The Joliet Junior Women’s Club and volunteers have been making signs for the march since 2006, a contribution that was recognized with a plaque from the Take Back the Night Committee. Surviving children of victims sometimes join in the sign-making.

“It breaks your heart when you see this little kid write a sign that says, ‘I miss my mom,’” Monaco said.

Among the resource providers at Take Back the Night was Rise From the Ashes, an organization that provides pro bono legal services to victims of domestic violence.

Rise From the Ashes founder Stephanie Austin was the keynote speaker at the event and told about her own experience as an abused wife that she documented online under the name Eden Strong.

Austin told how she learned by telling her story that she was not alone.

“I wanted to see if anyone out there was going through anything like this,” she said. “The floodgates opened.”

Austin said her experience was a lesson in the need to turn to others to get out of an abusive relationship and start a new life.

“I made it out because I started sharing my stories and people came beside me,” she told those gathered for Take Back the Night. “Look at everyone here. These are people who will help you.”