On March 24th, 2018 many brave teenagers and adults gathered together in several prominent cities around the U.S and marched for their rights. The biggest march was in Washington D.C and there were other ones in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston. In today’s world, teenagers have the ability to raise their voices through their media platforms.
Many individuals who are known for advocating against gun control and other flawed policies through their media, took the stand at our nation's capital in order to speak on behalf of the lost lives. One particular individual named Emma Gonzalez is an eighteen-year-old who was a survivor of the Douglas shooting. She has become a figure of hope, power, and justice in the sense that she is taking the horrific event that she was involved in and turning it into a chance for change.
It will be brave individuals like Emma who will be our future leaders. Our government is facing an overwhelming amount of protests and arguments. Unlike many other issues that the government faces, the issue of gun control and innocent individuals dying simply will not be ignored. Rather than just advocating for their rights on media platforms, these individuals took physical action and marched to our capital in hopes of political justice. These young survivors and brave teenagers are the voices of reason amongst all of the political instability that our nation is facing.
Initially, there was controversy as to whether or not the protests that proceeded the Stonemason Douglas High School shooting would just blow over like all the other school shootings have. However, this time, history was made and there was no more sitting around and letting Congress control our gun laws.
Rather, these teenagers traveled from all over the world just to join the March for Our Lives. They shared their personal stories and shed tears in front of national T.V in hopes of change. The speeches that the intelligent, young teenagers gave were very powerful and invoked many feelings within all of the viewers.
Emma Gonzalez had the most powerful speech in the sense that she remained silent on stage for six minutes and twenty seconds which is the amount of time that the Douglas school shooting lasted. She said in this amount of time many innocent lives were taken by an assault weapon that the mentally unstable boy should've never had a right to have. She then made the point that in this amount of time, she lost her loved ones and teachers who deserve to have justice in the end.
Another individual who was involved in the Douglas school shooting asked everyone in the crowd to sing happy birthday to one of the victims who was born on the day of the march for our lives. As I watched the live footage of all the young individuals in the crowd singing for this victim, I knew that this march was different than anything else I have ever seen before. This march would change everything and would go down in history.
For once, the younger generations are speaking on behalf of their future because it is heading in a downward spiral. The younger generations are taking action in order to create a world of peace that they would one day raise their own children in.
The realistic scenarios and truthful words that these survivors presented the audience with will change many perspectives. Several individuals gathered in the streets with creative posters and all had one thing in common: Stop Gun Violence. It is truly inspiring to see these brave individuals raising their voices and partaking in our democracy in order to be the voices of change and prosperity.
These individuals are taking their trauma and transforming it into good intentions with the hope of saving many young lives. This event will go down in history and none of these brave souls will ever be forgotten.
