March for Our Lives
Julia Graziano and Tamika Hill, Staff Writers
On Saturday, March 24th, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world came together to protest the lack of gun restrictions in the United States during the March for Our Lives event.
Emma González and David Hogg, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and survivors of the February 14th school shooting, have been vocal supporters of the march. The date, according to them, was chosen to give students, families and others a chance to mourn first, and then on March 24, talk about gun control.
At the conclusion of the marches, estimates ranged anywhere from the hundreds of thousands to well over a million attendees worldwide; some popular locations for the protests were Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City, but there were over 796 more all around the world. Some other cities that supported the cause were Paris, London, Berlin, and many more. Estimates from the Washington D.C. event alone range from 200,000 to 800,000 attendees, but whatever the numbers were, they were substantial. Many celebrities supported the March for Our Lives, such as Amal and George Clooney, who donated $500,000 to support the march and announced they would attend. Oprah Winfrey matched the Clooney donation to support the March. Film director and producer Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw Spielberg donated $500,000, as well. These donations and participation brought further exposure to the event.
So, what was the reason for thousands of people spending a beautiful Saturday protesting in the
streets? These 800,000 people rallied together to show support for gun violence victims and hope
for legislative changes, like universal background checks on all gun sales and raising the federal age of gun ownership and possession to 21. The event followed the Enough National School Walkout, which was held ten days earlier on the one-month anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. That event is estimated to have involved more than 3,000 schools across the United States and nearly one million students.
At the March for our Lives in Washington D.C., there were many speakers and performances, but none were as amazing and impactful than the one of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivor, Emma Gonzalez. Gonzalez wowed the country last month with her emotional speech, "We Call BS", which called out the politicians that have made it easier for people to wield extremely dangerous guns with little to stop them. At this most recent rally, Gonzalez delivered an equally moving speech where in the beginning, the young student named all the victims of the tragedy and then...
Silence.
For about five minutes, Emma Gonzalez stood in silence which was later described as the "the
Loudest Silence in the History of US Social Protest." The young survivor stood on stage for a
duration of six minutes and twenty seconds to represent the amount of time it took for the shooter to claim seventeen lives in the Parkland, FL high school. She ended her speech with the words, "Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job."
In the end, the marches and speeches left one message with the whole world; if you want
something to change, you must stand up for it.
On Saturday, March 24th, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world came together to protest the lack of gun restrictions in the United States during the March for Our Lives event.
Emma González and David Hogg, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and survivors of the February 14th school shooting, have been vocal supporters of the march. The date, according to them, was chosen to give students, families and others a chance to mourn first, and then on March 24, talk about gun control.
At the conclusion of the marches, estimates ranged anywhere from the hundreds of thousands to well over a million attendees worldwide; some popular locations for the protests were Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York City, but there were over 796 more all around the world. Some other cities that supported the cause were Paris, London, Berlin, and many more. Estimates from the Washington D.C. event alone range from 200,000 to 800,000 attendees, but whatever the numbers were, they were substantial. Many celebrities supported the March for Our Lives, such as Amal and George Clooney, who donated $500,000 to support the march and announced they would attend. Oprah Winfrey matched the Clooney donation to support the March. Film director and producer Steven Spielberg and actress Kate Capshaw Spielberg donated $500,000, as well. These donations and participation brought further exposure to the event.
So, what was the reason for thousands of people spending a beautiful Saturday protesting in the
streets? These 800,000 people rallied together to show support for gun violence victims and hope
for legislative changes, like universal background checks on all gun sales and raising the federal age of gun ownership and possession to 21. The event followed the Enough National School Walkout, which was held ten days earlier on the one-month anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas shooting. That event is estimated to have involved more than 3,000 schools across the United States and nearly one million students.
At the March for our Lives in Washington D.C., there were many speakers and performances, but none were as amazing and impactful than the one of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivor, Emma Gonzalez. Gonzalez wowed the country last month with her emotional speech, "We Call BS", which called out the politicians that have made it easier for people to wield extremely dangerous guns with little to stop them. At this most recent rally, Gonzalez delivered an equally moving speech where in the beginning, the young student named all the victims of the tragedy and then...
Silence.
For about five minutes, Emma Gonzalez stood in silence which was later described as the "the
Loudest Silence in the History of US Social Protest." The young survivor stood on stage for a
duration of six minutes and twenty seconds to represent the amount of time it took for the shooter to claim seventeen lives in the Parkland, FL high school. She ended her speech with the words, "Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job."
In the end, the marches and speeches left one message with the whole world; if you want
something to change, you must stand up for it.
