Instead of our usual Weekend Music Thread, the historic March For Our Lives has taken place today (and is continuing in some places) so in this post we present exclusive video and photos from today’s march in Los Angeles.
The main march in Washington DC appears to have brought together around 1 million marchers and over 800 companion marches around the United States and the world. As the saying has been coined for this march, this is not a moment, it’s a movement.
We invite you to add videos in support of and about our noble youth and standing up for something that matters.
Here is a brief tour of the March For Our Lives in Los Angeles.
Again, please feel free to add videos to show solidarity and support for this literal, movement of a lifetime.
Hey FD!
“And now…you’ve awakened a beast, you fuckers.”
Exactly!
Though when people criticize the older generations for not being able to get this gun control movement rolling like the Parkland teens have, I think it’s really generalizing.
One reason this is happening now is unfortunately, because so many other mass shootings have happened and so many people have tried to pass gun control before and failed.
This is the straw breaking the camel’s back in a way, though the character and eloquence of these amazing Parkland and other teens has been a unique and powerful factor.
The NRA has helped turn this into an issue of conscience instead of being the political issue it was for many years. And so has gerrymandering since 90% of Americnas support some kind of gun control legislation yet Repubs in gerrymandered districts have prevented almost all of America from having its will supported.
Like gay marriage, this is an issue that is turning from a Republican-motivating issue to an American motivating issue and as that happens, nothing can stand in the way of making the people’s will the law of the land.
Well, I do agree with these kids that we have let them down. It’s not about one party or the other, It’s about our failure as a government, one who’s leaders we elected. I think that’s what these kids are saying.
In a way, they are like the Vietnam war protesters, but now the battlefields are in our fucking schools!
Sure, the GOP bears the majority of blame, but really, us boomers have failed them.
Anyhoo, I’m with these kids 100%!
All I’m saying is that good people, including the survivors and parents of victims from all the previous mass shootings have been fighting this fight for many years but “America” wasn’t ready to get behind them. Like with Gay marriage, civil rights, etc., the moment of opportunity for victory is built on the shoulders of all of those who have come before and fought the good fight that paved the way for those pushing it over the top.
So the people in our generation who have really let these kids down are the minority who wouldn’t vote against NRA pols and helped them over the finish line.
Those pols who have sworn loyalty to the NRA have betrayed our youth and the parents who voted them in.
Now, that minority of voters is being forced to recognize that they have failed our kids and seem to be either getting on board now or stepping back.
It is like Vietnam. As you say, the main difference is that they’re losing their lives in schools instead of a battlefield. Either way, it’s about youth fighting back against a society that sees their deaths as acceptable losses in pursuit of their political goals.
And as with Vietnam protests, I think it’s clear now that a majority is behind their kids and this generation fighting back against this threat to their lives.
They are the leaders now but as you say, we’re marching right behind them. They need to be the leaders in this era because they are the ones whose lives are being taken, they are the ones who have to live with this fear daily and by being teens, they elevate this issue out of the political arena.
I am disappointed in the Boomer generation, so many have turned conservative and uncaring as they have gotten older. I saw that the swing between Dems and Repubs in the Boomer generation is only 2%-3%. For Millennials, it’s over 20% pro-Dem.
So they really are the generation that will pull this society back to where it needs to be as more and more get to voting age.
And this is going to start in a big way this Nov!
I understand all of that Ad, but still, in my personal opinion, we’ve failed, for whatever reasons. Trying (which we should not stop) is not succeeding. I really hate to come to that conclusion, but that’s just how it is.
I also think that this is beside the real point.
Again, I’m with these kids 100%. Maybe they can show the adults how it’s supposed to work.
Same here, I am fully behind the Parkland teens leading this movement. They’ve shown the energy, conscience and wisdom to be effective leaders.
I do think there are some in our generation who should feel guilty for being too apathetic or skeptical to support gun control before. However, I think that those who have supported and led efforts up until now, deserve credit for paving the way for the Parkland students.
It really is remarkable how effective they are. Today they’ve pulled half of Laura Ingraham’s advertisers in one day (and more may be coming), after she climbed deeper in the gutter to viciously bully David Hogg. The movement is succeeding already, more gun control laws have passed in states in the last month than probably in the last decade combined.
This is really the right time with the right people leading the way that can get this over the finish line. I think that in elections this year and in 2020, gun control will finally be a deciding factor for some voters to support or oppose a candidate…after a lifetime of only the NRA extremists voting on gun issues.
These kids have forced the right to really show their true core nature. The right is more concerned with partisanship than the safety and well being of our nation’s children. They cannot deny or hide that fact any longer. These wonderful teens have forced these virus into the sunlight.
All the right CAN do is to attack the messengers, because even they know they can’t rightly defend their position any longer.
Thanks so much for this encouraging message and the images of hundreds of young people who chose to spend time offline and in the streets today , AdLib! And– as the one guy in your video said: “It’s all about voting.” They get that!
Here in Toledo, there was a great turnout for a smaller city:
http://www.13abc.com/content/news/Hundreds-fill-downtown-Toledos-streets-for-March-for-Our-Lives-rally-477838803.html
Don’t you have the feeling that the NRA is suddenly very much on the defensive?
Very happy to share this with you and the rest of our Planeteers!
On one hand, it was surprising to see so many people of all ages, races, sexual preferences, religions, etc. so principled and committed to get out there and make their voices heard. On the other hand, it shouldn’t be surprising that most Americans do have common sense and decency and don’t think like the gun-manufacturer’s lobbying group and the rubes they’ve brainwashed.
The most frequent chants were, “Vote Them Out!” And “Stop the NRA”. These people know this is all about voting and fighting the enemy of the people, the NRA. It’s fantastic that this is the mindset, it means to me that turnout in November will be big and that it won’t stop there.
When the NRA is attacking teenagers who are recent survivors of a mass shooting and creating desperate lying videos to counter the movement they’ve started, it seems clear that the NRA is truly running scared now.
About time they felt what they’ve forced schoolchildren, concert and moviegoers, etc. feel thanks to the gun madness they’ve promoted.
Ad, here in little Montpelier Vermont we had several thousand people in front of the State House. I was not there in person, but in spirit! I support these youngsters and hope they keep the pressure on politicians. I sure hope they vote when they reach 18. This is the kind of movement that America needs.
It reminds me of the sixties. While I was drafted, I was always against the war.
I want the young people to continue speaking out. Guns are the problem and guns in the wrong hands is even more of a problem. They are right about background checks, bump stocks, clips that hold too many rounds, and mental health. I would add that every gun should be registered and renewal of that registration every year just like a car. Also taxed each year. There should be a big penalty for using a gun in any crime as well.
I bet there are other good ideas that escape me at the moment.
Nirek, that is so cool to hear! A very strong turnout indeed!
I think it is very much like the ’60s for this generation. Just like Vietnam, this is an issue that means life or death for our youth and they have the ultimate motivation to say, “Hell no, we won’t go!”
I think you checked off most of the simpler, basic steps that could be taken and above that, I like the idea of taxing guns to help pay for the terrible damage they do to our people and putting a huge financial penalty on anyone using a gun in a crime.
I’d add to that list, registering and limiting ammunition purchases, getting rid of Stand Your Ground and open carry laws.
And the big one is banning all semi-automatic assault weapons and any accessory that makes any gun fire more rapidly than originally designed.
What is it about “a well regulated militia” that the gun nuts don’t understand?
We’ll probably have to wait until a Dem President replaces Trump in 2020 though for any chance of passing the biggest laws like the ban but this younger generation, which now outnumbers Boomers, will be throwing more and more weight in elections and if they stand strong, they will win this along with the rest of us.
Thank you AD. We are following all of this in Australia as is the rest of the World. Inspiring and gratifying to see the turn out. May it bring about the much needed change. (understatement).
Glad I could share it, Fergie. Australia is the example that America needs to follow on gun control. It’s so simple to me, the campaign for gun control here should simply be, “Look at what Australia did to solve mass shootings!”
Well done, Ad. So good to see such a great crowd.
It was such a great crowd, glenn. So many teens and younger there, families and 20-somethings. This is a movement that is so inclusive and the energy and commitment is real. These are Americans who now are willing to vote on the gun issue, it used to be only the NRA nuts who would.
They have met their match and more!
WONDERFUL photos of a large, diverse, and energized populace. Thanks, AdLib. I couldn’t be there, but I am wearing my MFOL T shirt that I got expressly from the L.A. march folks.
May this movement carry on far and wide. It’s brought millions together to work for change in powerful and enduring ways!
Hey CL! We felt the solidarity from your wearing the t-shirt!
I think it will, it feels like the top has blown off of this movement and there’s no stopping it now.