On March 24, hundreds of thousands of protesters worldwide took a stand in the movement against gun violence in America. From Hartford, Connecticut to Munich, Germany, the presence of protesters did not go unheard or unnoticed. The marches were to make the point that we the people would no longer remain silent while the NRA continues to profit off of the loss of innocent lives.
At the March for Our Lives in New York City, the protest my friends and I attended, we passed elementary school children with signs saying: “first graders for gun control,” and “protect kids not guns.” where they must advocate for the value of their lives.
However, it’s important to remember gun violence in America is not limited to school shootings. It causes tragedies on a smaller scale on a day to day basis. Shootings and other episodes of gun violence in cities such as Chicago and Detroit are so common that the media has almost become desensitized to the repeating occurrences, resulting in many crimes going virtually unnoticed.
We as a nation must no longer turn a blind eye to these tragedies. Advocates from Black Lives Matter spoke in New York on how the issues of racism and gun violence were closely interconnected. Gun control is an intersectional issue and if we refuse to listen to all groups affected, we silence those whose voices must be heard.
If you want to do something about gun violence, contact your congressman and senators. Ask them what they are doing about gun control. If they are not advocates for gun control, you can volunteer to help their opponents win in the next election.
“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change… I am changing the things I cannot accept.” -Angela Davis
Pictures taken by Whitney Schwitter ‘19
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