“If there is anything I have learned in life so far, it is that things are more complicated than they appear to be at first glance”, she said.
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Still, her group – which is affiliated with Everytown for Gun Safety, the organization founded by former NY mayor Michael R. Bloomberg – has added 140,000 new volunteers since the Parkland massacre on February 14, and it has started a new group, Students Demand Action, which has added 33,000 volunteers. But, he continued, there’s hope. “We stand together for your senselessly slain classmates and friends and say this has to stop!” The overarching message, Mix said, was one of the need for change, and events like this one help create a place to talk about what that means.
Watts is focused on harnessing the energy from the marches to register and mobilize voters ahead of the mid-term elections and pressure state legislatures to toughen gun control laws. There are so many sides and so many pointing fingers, but in the end those advocating vigilante justice and martial law and those advocating taking all guns are the same, they are taking their fears and blinding and deafening themselves to anyone but the narrow band they consider to be like them.
The students said that, despite some initial signs that President Donald Trump would take greater action after the Parkland shooting, Washington has done little.
Julia Adams was one of the organizers for the Southern Indiana rally and attended the one in Louisville later in the day.
“I think this time it’s going different”, Warner said. “I’m 17, but we’ll be voting soon”.
However, the demonstrators were not deterred, including Brother Martin High School student Elliot Canty. Eventually, we were positioned fairly close to the main stage where Douglas alumni, famous musicians and influential people from various parts of the nation shared their personal encounters with gun violence. It was a mix of student speeches, songs, poetry and chants.
Then the protesters, holding signs including “Enough is Enough”, “We’re the Change”, “Gun violence hurts” and “I am a Teacher NOT a Security Guard”, walked all the way to the midtown Manhattan. David Hogg was just the boy that I knew of simply because he was featured on “Humans of MSD”, a student-run Instagram platform. Their words were not only touching, she said, but also motivating.
Fernando Cienfuegos is a junior at Northview High School in Covina, California. But Kasky said this won’t happen if his peers across the nation don’t get more involved.
“My heart plunged to the floor”, he said. “It is normal to see flowers honoring the lives of black and brown youth that have lost their lives to a bullet”, Chavez said.
“Year after year, America has failed to act”.
Christopher was just five years old and his brother was 14 – and survived for 14 days.
“Us kids need to show that we’re the ones who are affected by this”, one young protester told Uproxx. “If you see someone sitting alone, sit next to them – a simple “hello” or “how are you” could radically change a person’s day”. Speakers indicated they did not want to take guns away, but that regulation is important for the safety of students.
“The more I see people marching and standing up for a cause I believe in, I want my voice to matter, too”, he said at the Washington march, adding that gun violence was a menace in his community.
“It’s tough”, she said.
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“What I’d rather be doing is focusing on school, playing and enjoying my childhood …”
