Dear Commons Community,
Time magazine’s new cover features five survivors of February’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting who organized this weekend’s March For Our Lives protests for stronger gun laws in Washington and other cities.
The Time headline says “Enough,” superimposed over the crossed arms of Parkland senior Emma González and her fellow students, Jaclyn Corin, Alex Wind, Cameron Kasky and David Hogg.
The five students have been demanding that lawmakers make policy changes to keep schools safe since a gunman armed with an assault-style rifle attacked their South Florida high school on Feb. 14.
Last week, their efforts inspired students across the nation to walk out of their classrooms to protest gun violence. Students at many schools observed 17 minutes of silence to honor the 17 people who were killed in the Parkland shooting.
“Over the past month, these students have become the central organizers of what may turn out to be the most powerful grassroots gun-reform movement in nearly two decades.” wrote Time’s Charlotte Alter for the magazine’s cover story. “For much of the rest of the country, numbed and depressed by repeated mass shootings, the question has become:
Can these kids actually do it?”
Join the march tomorrow in a city near you! Below is what you need to know if you are planning to march in New York City.
Tony
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NEW YORK CITY, NY — In the wake of a school shooting that killed 17 in Parkland, Florida, thousands of activists are expected to the flood the streets of New York City on Saturday to protest gun violence.
Just days after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz shot up their hallways with an AR-15-style assault rifle, students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School began organizing a march on Washington D.C. to demand stricter gun control laws. The idea inspired young people to come together for a global “March For Our Lives” protest on March 24.
“March For Our Lives” protesters will take to streets around the world with three demands from U.S. Congress: A ban on assault rifles like those used in the Parkland and Las Vegas shootings, a limitation on high-capacity magazines and a comprehensive bill that would close loopholes that allow people to buy guns in some cases without background checks.
While roughly 500,000 people are expected at the main march just blocks from the nation’s capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue, thousands more are slated to attend its sister march in Manhattan, which began as a small Facebook event made by Columbia Law Student Alex Clavering.
“He invited 30 friends to join, and by the next day we had a thousand people,” said Julia Ghahramani, a classmate of Clavering who helped organize the march.
The school shooting had hit particularly close to home for Clavering, who’d recently spent a year teaching English to children in Malaysia. When he heard what the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students were doing, he wanted to help.
“I think both of us were really prompted and inspired by the younger students who were really ready to make this work,” Ghahramani told Patch.
Now, tens of thousands are expected to pack the march, which will start with a rally spanning 13 blocks back from Columbus Circle along Central Park.
“Our permit’s for 30,000 people, but I’m guessing we’re going to exceed that,” Ghahramani said.
Whether you’re among those planning to protest or trying to avoid the march altogether, here’s everything you need to know about the NYC March For Our Lives:
The rally:
The NYC March For Our Lives will kick off with a rally at 11 a.m. near Columbus Circle, organizers said. The rally will span 13 blocks along Central Park West to the entry point at West 72nd Street. Participants are advised to be there by 10 a.m.
Students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a teacher from Sandy Hook and a local survivor of gun violence are slated to speak at the hourlong rally, organizers said. Around 200 volunteers will be stationed at voter registration booths throughout it.
The rally will end at around noon, when the march begins.
March route:
The march will begin at Columbus Circle, head east along Central Park South and then down Sixth Avenue toward Midtown, where it will end on 44th Street organizers said.
Marchers must enter from the rally gates at West 72nd Street and Central Park West.
March start time:
The march will begin at noon, but protesters must go through the rally entrance at West 72nd Street to participate, and those gates close once the rally begins at 11 a.m., organizers said.
