By GWYNNE DULANEY, Staff Writer
Early on the morning of Saturday, March 24, nearly 200,000 people gathered between W 72nd Street and Central Park to rally against gun violence in New York City’s official March for Our Lives protest. Participants marched in solidarity with sister marches all across the country in a demand for stricter gun laws after the tragic massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fl.
Colorful signs with slogans such as “I should be worrying about my SATs, not AR-15s,” “If you still resist gun control, it’s because it wasn’t your kid… yet,” and “I want guac, not glocks,” stood out above the crowd. Countless marchers were bundled up in orange clothing, the official color of the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety. Above all the hustle and bustle, distinct chanting was heard: “What do we want? Gun control! When do we want it? Now!”
This entire movement has been led by a generation barely old enough to vote. In the many school shootings that have taken place since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut in December of 2012, elementary, middle, and high school students have lost friends and teachers to gun violence.
In the official March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C., the speakers and leaders were not adults, but students from the schools affected by gun violence, including Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School.
“They should call this generation GenNext,” said an older woman participating in the New York march. “They are the ones that are going to fix this.”
These students were not just there to express their fear of going to school; they were there to promote change. Student speakers at rallies all over the country encouraged marchers to take action and vote in the midterm elections. They also emphasized to their fellow students the importance of registering to vote as soon as possible.
“[This generation] plans to make sure that they vote and they get others to register to vote,” said John Feinblatt, the president of Everytown for Gun Safety, in a recent New York Times article. “They are absolutely poised to turn this moment into a movement.”
