Students in Washington DC staged a Die-In in front of the White House on Presidents Day. Via March for Life
At least three national protests are being organized in the wake of the Valentine’s Day killings in Parkland, Florida. Each is different in scope and substance, and all deserve support. And, no, three protests is not too many.
- The Enough Walkout is a 17-minute protest scheduled for March 14.
- March for Our Lives involves March 24 protests in Washington DC and cities around the United States.
- The National School Walkout is a national student strike planned for April 20th.
The #Enough Walkout. The Woman’s March youth branch, EMPOWERis encouraging students, teachers and their allies to walk out on March 14 to protest gun violence. Hundreds of schools throughout the country have already signed up to participate exactly one month after the shooting for 17 minutes–one for each victim who lost their life in the massacre– at 10am across every time zone.
Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkoutfor 17 minutes at 10am across every time zone on March 14, 2018 to protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods. We need action. Students and allies are organizing the national school walkout to demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes and places of worship.
Students and staff have the right to teach and learn in an environment free from the worry of being gunned down in their classrooms or on their way home from school.
Parents have the right to send their kids to school in the mornings and see them home alive at the end of the day.
We are not safe at school. We are not safe in our cities and towns. Congress must take meaningful action to keep us safe and pass federal gun reform legislation that address the public health crisis of gun violence. We want Congress to pay attention and take note: many of us will vote this November and many others will join in 2020.
Join us in saying #ENOUGH!
March for Our Lives. Students who survived the shooting in are planning a protest in Washington, D.C. on March 24. There will be demonstrations in support of the student-led action in various cities around the country.
Not one more. We cannot allow one more child to be shot at school. We cannot allow one more teacher to make a choice to jump in front of a firing assault rifle to save the lives of students. We cannot allow one more family to wait for a call or text that never comes. Our schools are unsafe. Our children and teachers are dying. We must make it our top priority to save these lives.
March For Our Lives is created by, inspired by, and led by students across the country who will no longer risk their lives waiting for someone else to take action to stop the epidemic of mass school shootings that has become all too familiar. In the tragic wake of the seventeen lives brutally cut short in Florida, politicians are telling us that now is not the time to talk about guns. March For Our Lives believes the time is now.
On March 24, the kids and families of March For Our Lives will take to the streets of Washington, DC to demand that their lives and safety become a priority. The collective voices of the March For Our Lives movement will be heard.
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. No special interest group, no political agenda is more critical than timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.
Every kid in this country now goes to school wondering if this day might be their last. We live in fear.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future. Their young voices will be heard.
Stand with us on March 24. Refuse to allow one more needless death.
#NationalSchoolWalkOut On April 20, the nineteenth anniversary of the Columbine shooting in Colorado, teachers unions, education advocacy groups and student organizations are calling for protests. While details are sketchy for the April 20 event, various groups are urging people to werr orange to show their support.
A web page calling for pledges to commit to an April 20 action and sponsored by the Network for Public Education, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and other organizations says, “The failure to enact rational laws around the purchase of guns that are designed for mass shootings is inexcusable. The time to act is now. Every child deserves to learn in a school that is safe.”
After the slaughter of students and staff in Parkland, Florida, the time for action has never been more urgent. The politicians sit on their hands as our children and their teachers are murdered in their schools. We will be silent no more! The failure to enact rational laws that bar access to guns designed for mass shootings is inexcusable. It is past time to speak out and act.
Pledge your support to stop gun violence here.
We call for mass action on April 20, the anniversary of the horrific shootings at Columbine High School. We urge teachers, families, students, administrators and every member of the community to engage in acts of protest in and around their schools. Create actions that work best in your community. Organize sit-ins, teach-ins, walkouts, marches–whatever you decide will show your school and community’s determination to keep our students safe. One elementary teacher suggested that teachers and parents link arms around the school to show their determination to protect children.
It is time to let our legislators know that they must stand up to the gun lobby and enact meaningful reform to protect students and staff.
San Diego events are being organized and will be publicized via the weekly Progressive Activist Calendar, published at SDFP every Friday.
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A few more tidbits…
Via Mark Sumner at Daily Kos:
Here’s some news from the land of really sick irony. On May 4, the NRA will hold it’s annual “leadership forum” in Dallas. The speakers list for the event promises the standard mouth-foaming of the NRA’s own Wayne LaPierre. It will bring the requisite irrational screeds in the form of the latest model Anne Coulter, Tomi Lauren. And it will bring a slate of political speakers.
Those speakers include North Carolina Representative Richard Hudson, who Americans can thank for a bill that would let people carry concealed weapons in any state, no matter what the state laws say. A bill that Hudson brags is “the greatest gun rights boost since the ratification of Second Amendment in 1791.”
It includes Ted Cruz. Who is … Ted Cruz.
It includes Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who is best known for blocking enforcement of background checks in Nevada. A little legal finagling that has endeared Laxalt to the NRA, though maybe not to the 527 people in Las Vegas who wish he’d taken his task a little more seriously.
And the list of featured speakers includes one more big Republican name — Florida Governor Rick Scott.
Click on the graphic below to see a list of NRA “partners” that need to reconsider having your support:
Looking for some action? Check out the Weekly Progressive Calendar, published every Friday in this space, featuring Demonstrations, Rallies, Teach-ins, Meet Ups and other opportunities to get your activism on.
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Doug Porter
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On guns- Think national-Vote Local. Many candidates have gun-related voting records- I’m proud of mine: Endorsed by Brady Campaign. Worked with Women Against Gun Violence. I’ll gladly compare my gun safety record against anyone else running for office in San Diego.