Isn’t it possible that the youth of today, even the 9-year-old
granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr, can speak truth into the lives of
adults? I was taken back by the articulate speech of an eleven-year-old at the
Washington DC March for Our Lives who definitively made the point contra the
conspiracy theorists that she was capable of speaking on an adult level. The
real message that came across even in downtown Phoenix with 15,000 marchers is ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
Regardless of the labels that have been placed upon Parkland
High Student, Emma Gonzalez, she spoke out LOUDLY and with SILENCE about her
passion to see change take place in our country! Her silence, according to
David Hogg fellow survivor, made the people in power who are owned by the NRA
to take NOTE. We are not going to stop until change comes into our nation when
it comes to common sense gun laws, better school protection for us students and
then to see the incredible funds given to politicians from the NRA STOP.
Imagine what would happen if the funds given even to our local congressmen and senators
would have gone to buying books instead of promoting bullets?
How was it possible a month after the school shooting that
there could be such a wide movement of young adults standing up and speaking
out against gun violence in our nation? I have memories of the Vietnam marches
and protests. I know that with the birth of the internet and social media it
only takes days not weeks or months to see a movement unfold. I was offended
and confused by the comment of one that all of these teens would not be know if
there hadn’t been a mass shooting. The reality is that the Emma’s, David’s and
Lauren’s were going to speak up soon.
The question left before us is whether our president will
continue to cave into the power of the NRA or on a local context that our
legislators will see the clear path of common sense gun laws, real background
checks, address mental health and the need for resource officers in schools. It’s
time to start working together instead of fighting.
How is it possible that we live in the greatest county on
the face of Planet Earth and we have the most mass shootings and continued gun
violence?
Passion now turns into action! The massive crowds that
appeared across our nation yesterday will soon be of voting age and will become
the leaders of change for the near future!