The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have catalyzed a social movement demanding an end to gun violence. While their leadership and moral authority have undoubtedly taken the movement to another level, youth-led activism against gun violence is not, in fact, new. In Florida in 2013, for example, members of Power U and Dream Defenders took over the state capitol to protest the “stand your ground” laws that allowed Trayvon Martin’s killer to go free, an event that helped give rise to the Black Lives Matter movement. Organizations led by young people of color have been working to end violence in their schools and on their streets for years, even decades.
While some adults are focusing on the divisions between these constituencies, the young organizers themselves are finding common cause. Student leaders from Parkland have taken the time to listen and learn from their black and brown peers. Two weeks after the shooting, they joined Miami youth in a meeting organized by Power U and Dream Defenders to explore an alignment in their struggles. Similar meetings have taken place with young people from Chicago, Los Angeles, and other cities. The Parkland students have also explicitly acknowledged that their activism is getting more attention in the media than other protests against gun violence, including violence by police, and they have shown a remarkable commitment to using their platform to amplify the voices of black and brown young people. They invited, for example, activists of color like Alex King, D’Angelo McDade, Edna Chavez, Naomi Wadler, and others to share the stage at the March for Our Lives in Washington, making it impossible for the national media to ignore these powerful voices.
These young speakers made clear that gun control is just one target of their activism. They are fighting against public policies that imperil black and brown youth and fighting for investments in their development and success. As McDade, a high-school senior from Chicago, told the crowd, “We are survivors not only of gun violence, but of silence. We are survivors of the erratic productions of poverty. But not only that. We are the survivors of unjust policies and practices upheld by our Senate.”
[For more on this story by Lori Bezahler, go to https://www.thenation.com/arti...enter-of-neveragain/]
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