Unafraid & Unapologetic: Student Activists Speak Out at March For Our Lives

Taylor Cromwell
Updated


Students are sending a strong message to the world: Our. Lives. Matter. On Saturday, March for Our Lives took over six continents and more than 800 cities to demand gun reform and show that this generation is not all talk. They are determined to fight for change and they are taking names along the way.

"I'm really sick of everyone giving their thoughts and prayers. It's time that, for once, we actually do something and make a change," said Breanna, a junior who marched four of her best friends from school. Her friend, who's also named Breanna, chimed in: "It's our problem. We can't just sit back and complain. We have to do something about it."

Organized by survivors of the Parkland school shooting, Everytown for Gun Safety and Giffords Courage—founded by former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords—the movement has been a rallying cry for young activists. Washington D.C. alone drew an estimated 800,000 protesters, which would make it the largest single-day protest in the city's history. And the movement joins a long history of revolutions sparked by student organizers.

"They think we're children. We can't have a voice. Our opinions don't matter. And simple as that, we're here. We're making a change. We're using our voice. We're marching," said Rozey, a junior from Jacksonville, Florida.

The student activists behind the movement also refuse to back down to nay-sayers. "We're not as ignorant and naive as you think we are—and we are the future so you need to listen to us," said Ebony Martin, a high school student from Massachusetts.

With the march behind them, the organizers for March for Our Lives released its battle plan for the rest of year, outlining policy changes they are advocating for, which include funding research for gun violence prevention, universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity weapons. They are also targeting the midterm elections by registering their peers to vote and mobilizing them to show up at the polls in November to take down candidates who don't support their cause.

"It's a no brainer. If you have a problem and there's a clear fix, you should fix it. And this seems to be a clear fix to me," said Jillian Grip, a senior from Dorset, Vermont.

For more information on how you can get involved within your own community, go to marchforourlives.com.