Washington, D.C. The March for Our Lives protest was absolutely moving. The movement was organized in majority by minors, the under-age-18-bracket, stepped up and showed tf Outtttt ( in a good way of course). These brave young voices proved that silence is not an option and they want to see real changes being made with the gun laws in America. If you were tuned into our snap chat account then you were able to get a live look at the march but if not, here’s a full recap.
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Emotion was running high as the courageous voices that stepped up were vulnerable, letting us know how hurt they were seeing their classmates senselessly gunned down. Andra Day Starting with “Rise up” and Common joining her for “Stand Up” was the perfect opening to Cameron Kasky set the mood of the day, with his “Welcome to the revolution.”
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Demi Lovato’s performance was amazing. When Edna Chavez, a South Los Angeles teen shared “I learned to duck from bullets before I learned how to read,” it made so many of us realize how inner city violence is running rampant even still today. Hearts broke when she confided, “I lost more than my brother that day I lost my hero.” We helped her chant her brother’s name, “Ricardo” was remembered that day.
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Another eloquent eleven year old, Nyomi Waddler shined up her crown for the underrepresented African American girls, “I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper,” she said.
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Naomi helped organize a walkout at George Mason Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., on March 14 to protest gun violence.
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Like protests throughout the country that day, George Mason had a 17-minute moment of silence for the victims of Marjory Stoneman High. Naomi added an extra minute to honor Courtlin Arrington, an African American teenager fatally shot the week before at an Alabama high school.
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Before Miley Cyrus’s performed, Jaclyn Corin, the junior class president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, stood with Yolanda King, Dr. Martin Luther King’s granddaughter.
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Precious Yolanda did her family’s legacy proud telling us, “I have a dream that enough is enough, and that this should be a gun-free world,” King said to the crowd. At the end of her speech, King asked the crowd to repeat the following words: “Spread the word! Have you heard? All across the nation, we are going to be a great generation!” She alone gave me hope that future generations are noticing and refusing to stand for the nonsense that is going on in this country.
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Ariana Grande performed and encouraged young voices to keep speaking out. Two boys from Chicago, Alex King and D’Angelo McDade, both 18-years-old spoke out about their neighborhood in Chicago, where gun violence is also their norm. They ripped tape off their mouths to symbolize that silence is an option for them no more.
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The one silence that was the most tear-jerking was the ones that rolled down Emma Gonzalez’s face as she stood before us. For over six minutes and 20 seconds she relived the most horrendous time of her life.
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Jennifer Hudson and the D.C. choir shut down the house, but the real stars that showed up were all the courageous voices, too many to name them all, that lent their talents to the movement. I can still hear the chants, “Vote Them Out.”
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