By Louis Baragona
- Student activists and survivors of the shootings in Parkland, Florida are organizing the “March For Our Lives,” a national march in the name of gun control safety and legislative change.
- On March 24, protesters will take over Washington D.C. as well as several other major cities for speeches, tributes, and musical performances.
- Celebrities and politicians are getting involved and supporting the students.
The tragic shooting at Parkland, Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School not only spurred an unprecedented national conversation about the availability of automatic weapons, the commonality of mass shootings, and a history of political complacency, the event also galvanized a new group of vocal, powerful activists.
Young survivors of the shooting, including students Emma Gonzalez and Cameron Kasky, are bringing action to their words, organizing a huge, historic march that they’re calling the March For Our Lives.
“The thing that inspired us to create the march was people saying, ‘You are all talking about gun control and this isn’t the time to talk about control, this is the time to grieve, the time to mourn,'” Kasky said on “The Ellen Show.” “And we understand that. We said, now might not be the time to talk about gun control, here’s the time to talk about gun control: March 24.”
On Saturday, March 24, at 10 a.m., organizers in Washington D.C. anticipate a crowd of 500,000 attendees protesting in the name of gun control laws, according to the Washington Post, including “student speakers, musical performers, guest speakers, and video tributes.”
The march will also expand to several other sister cities on the same day, including protests in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles, all for the same mission.
“March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar,” the official mission statement reads. “In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.”
Those interested can purchase march merchandise or make donations to the cause. Celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres have contributed to the march with their own large financial donations.
The protest comes in light of national unrest about the future of legislation in regards to firearms, particularly when it comes to pro-gun organizations like the NRA. Survivors, who’ve faced harassment for their activism, have been outspoken about their frustrations with the government’s position on firearms and automatic weapons, especially that of Donald Trump. They’re now putting their frustrations to action in the hopes that “young voices will be heard.”
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Originally published at www.businessinsider.com
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