Posted on March 24, 2018
Today is not so much as a historic anniversary as a historic day.
Thousands and thousands of people will march in cities all over the United States.
And it started with the passionate and sincere calls for change from high school students who'd suffered a frightening incident and a terrible loss.
Less than a week after a mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida, survivors had launched the #NeverAgain and #Enough movements. Here are a few things that they accomplished, already - even though it's just been a bit more than a month:
They've raised millions for events to promote gun control.
They have given speeches and interviews, appeared on television shows from CNN news segments to The Ellen DeGeneres Show, written op-eds, and engaged social media - sometimes discussing ideas as equals with adult lawmakers and media personnel.  |
| Emma Gonzalez |
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| Cameron Kasky |
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| Delaney Tarr |
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| David Hogg |
They fought back against people who started mean-spirited and ridiculous conspiracy theories - like accusing some of them of being "crisis actors." And they've gotten some people who have said or Tweeted awful things to apologize.
They have helped lead countless local walk-outs and protests and demonstrations, including at least one in which dozens of kids lay down in front of the White House in representation of school shootings, and another in which 7,000 pairs of empty kids' shoes lay on the U.S. Capital Lawn as a memorial to American children killed by gun violence since the 2012 massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School.
They helped lead a nationwide walk-out, a seventeen-minute-long protest that involved tens of thousands of students and teachers from Maine to California to Hawaii, Florida to Alaska. Some international schools participated, even! Some students in Ireland, Israel, and Mexico, at least, joined in.
They helped push through new gun control laws in Florida and Oregon and hopefully other places.
They helped spark a movement that convinced many corporations to stop having "partnerships" with the National Rifle Association, or giving NRA members discounts.
They helped convince other corporations to give public statements supporting sensible gun control.
They helped convince several nationwide stores to make changes in their gun-selling rules - or to stop selling guns altogether.
They helped convince a dating app to ban images of guns on its platform.
They are helping to plan another National School Walkout on April 20, at 10 a.m. local time. This is the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting.
Here is a mission statement from the organizers of today's march:
School safety is not a political issue. There cannot be two sides to doing everything in our power to ensure the lives and futures of children who are at risk of dying when they should be learning, playing, and growing. The mission and focus of March For Our Lives is to demand that a comprehensive and effective bill be immediately brought before Congress to address these gun issues.
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