7-Year-Old Violinist Wants to Play for Peace and Stop Violence in Ferguson

Leah Flynn, a 7-year-old violinist from Sanford, Florida, is hoping to play her violin for peace in the torn town of Ferguson, Missouri.

Flynn, who is only in second-grade, has been playing the violin since she was 5 and practices daily with her father. She has performed as a soloist at many different concerts and venues.

After viewing the violence and protest happening in Ferguson shortly after the shooting and death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by Police Officer Darren Wilson, the talented child felt that she wanted to do something to help the suffering town.

“She said to me, ‘Mom, what’s going on?’ And I explained to her, because I have to — I told her what’s going,” her mother Paula Flynn told WOFL. “She said, ‘But it's not right these people look so sad; maybe I could do something for them.”

Her father taught her “Let There Be Peace” on the violin and the skilled 7-year-old hopes to be able to travel to Ferguson and perform the piece.

“There’s a lot of scariness there and violence and fighting, so I really just want them to have peace and happiness,” Leah said.

This may be a risky endeavor amid all the civil unrest and tension that Ferguson is experiencing after a grand jury decided not to indict Wilson for Brown’s death.

”In her eyes she believes that she can create some sort of change in the atmosphere down there," her mom told the station. "I'm extremely proud, and I tell her it's a God-given talent that God gave her, and she should use her talent wisely."