I almost missed the party at Itchifingers for this month’s 5 in 5. Actually I did one series and wasn’t thrilled with it, so I waited until today’s March for Our Lives. Like many cities Rochester hosted a local march. A group from our church met in our parking lot and walked to the rally (followed by the march) at Washington Square Park. According to the news reports, about 5,000 attended. I took the photos just as the rally was getting underway.
One of my best friends and her daughter who created posters for the three of us.
My poster; I love the message. Emily found all of them on the internet.
There were a LOT of speeches by public officials, high school students, and college students. By far the most moving was a young lady who is a student at a local college. She grew up in Sandy Hook, Connecticut where 20 first graders and six teachers were gunned down in 2012. She has lived with this issue in a much more personal way than most of us. I thought for sure the Sandy Hook tragedy would prompt our Congress to act, but the NRA has been such an incredibly powerful lobby that still five and a half years later (and so many more mass shootings to say nothing of individual lives cut down by guns), nothing has been done. Preventing gun violence has to become a priority. One of the most effective things that can happen is to vote those Congressional representative and senators opposing gun violence legislation right out of office. Hopefully, the kids can do a better job of keeping this issue in the forefront of the news better than adults have been able to do.
We hear a lot about this issue in the States and I think we find it hard to understand why something isn’t done. Well done all of you for going along to have your say.
Yeah, Yes, Amen, Right On !!!
Interesting post. I have been following the recent news of what seems to be a sudden (but probably isn’t) upswing in energy to address the problem. As Maggie said, it can be difficult for us to grasp the notion that the average citizen feels they “need” a gun, much less consider it an essential possession. Harder still to understand how so many can persist in upholding the status quo, despite the waste and pain caused by repeated and increasingly frequent misuse of arms. Good for you for attending the rally and I do hope that in the fullness of time your efforts will bear fruit.
I believe the “kids” that are leading the charge are the voice of the future and they will ultimately make a huge difference in this issue. Most of them will be able to vote by the next election cycle, definitely by the 2020 election. I’ve seen so many posts on various memes on FB and elsewhere suggesting that they are uninformed, brain-washed, just trying to get out of class, etc. What I find is exactly the opposite – they are well informed on the issues and well aware (particularly in our school district that issued detentions to over 200 students for walking out on the 17th) that what they did (walking out of the building after being told to attend an assembly in the auditorium) is civil disobedience and that it has consequences. They participated in the walk-out knowing they would get detention, and they are serving their detentions as “sit-ins” carrying signs with them. I’m immensely disappointed with our school district, superintendent, principals, etc. for not allowing the students to participate in the walk-out but instead cramming down an assembly to silence their voices. I’m proud of the students who stood up for what they believe in.
Great posters and good for you indeed!
We attended the one in Union Park, Chicago.
Something has changed and we will not be silenced!
xx
I watched the march…and was totally blown away by those kids! Thank you for sharing your experience…and for being there. Our work has a long way to go!
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