The sign I carried in NOLA
Here’s a quick post of my awe in response to yesterday’s #marchforourlives anti-gun protests around the US and the world, spearheaded by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, where 17 students and faculty were killed with an Ar-15 on Feb 14, 2018.
I was in New Orleans for the Renaissance Society of America conference, and I marched from the Elysian Fields through the French Quarter with several thousand students and adults. As we turned up Canal St, a young woman lead the chant: “What do we want?” “Gun control!” “When do we need it?” “Now!”
Maddie speaking in Denver
Before the march started, I chatted with one of the organizers who, like me, was wearing a #MSDStrong t-shirt, made by members of the Parkland FL community. His nephew is a sophomore at MSD, and they were marching in Washington.
Before the CT march, with signs and Marjory Stoneman Douglas shirts
My niece Maddie King, who’s a junior at MSD and was in her physics class during the attack, was in Denver. She was the last of eleven speakers to rally 200,000 people before their march. My sister and my brother in law posted her full speech on Facebook live, and CNN also ran a lengthy excerpt from her speech as well as an interview with her after. I’m so impressed by and proud of this poised and powerful young woman. Little about American culture makes me as optimistic as the idea that these kids will be adults soon.
UPDATE: Here’s a YouTube of the full speech:
I’ll also add here the heart-rending speech that Maddie’s friend Emma Gonzalez gave to the DC march. These kids will change the world.
Alinor and Olivia marched locally in Guilford, CT, where our local CT state senator, Edward Kennedy, Jr., spoke about how it felt to him to lose his two uncles, John F. and Robert Kennedy, to gun violence.
Marching in CT
I wore my #msdstrong shirt, but I like this one too