Women Uniting…The Next Generation #NeverAgain

As Women’s History Month draws to an end, I thought it only fitting to feature a few young women who are making history right now. Women who I believe will be considered heroines for generations to come. They weren’t elected leaders, politicians, or CEO’s of big companies. They weren’t known as activists. They were “just” high school students…were.

AND THEN on February 14th of this year, on a day typically associated with hearts and love, their lives changed. 

On February 14, 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School joined the ever-growing list of school shootings. That day, a 19-year-old walked in the school with a semi-automatic rifle. The massacre killed 14 students and 3 staff members, along with wounding many others that day, in Parkland, Florida. And while many of us wept and wondered if this madness would ever stop, it was a handful of teens who stood up and demanded change.

Unlike previous mass school shootings, where it seems we’re saddened, outraged, and talk about change for a few days, and then the story slowly fades as “new news” hits, this wasn’t going away. Things were different this time. The outrage grew. And grew. And grew. The outrage grew due to these young women and men who, determined to end gun violence and keep our kids safe, spoke up and out. 

As elected leaders said it was “too soon” to talk about guns and violence, these teens spoke up and out, asking when is a good time?

Just one day after the shooting, while still dealing with the horror, survivors Alex Wind, Cameron Kasky, and Sofie Whitney met up after a candlelit vigil. As Wind said to the others, “…something needs to happen, there needs to be a central space; there needs to be a movement,” Kasky came up with the name “Never Again,” and boy did it become a movement.

As the survivors gained tens of thousands of followers on social media, while passionately and so eloquently speaking up in interviews, challenging adults, lawmakers, and politicians as to why this was allowed to happen, the movement grew. Along with Wind, Kasky, and Whitney, fellow survivors Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Sarah Chadwick, and Jaclyn Corin spoke up and fired up the movement with their words, actions, and leadership skills. And there are more students, in every city across our country who are following their lead and stepping up, demanding a change so this never happens again. 

Though there were many young teens who spoke up and continue to speak up, because this is National Women’s History month I want to focus on two young women who I especially admire. Two young women who I think are making history and will continue to do so. But believe me, I admire each and every single one of these young people, male and female.  

EMMA GONZALEZ 

Senior Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School survivor, Emma Gonzalez, caught my attention as I stood transfixed in my living room, watching the TV and hearing her passionately speak at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida just days after the shooting. My heart broke as I watched the play of emotions cross her face but damn I was proud of her. To be so brave, well-spoken and composed, yet passionate. Just days after surviving a mass shooting. 

As she addressed the crowd, this caught my ear, “…and maybe the adults have gotten used to saying, ‘it is what it is,’ but if us students have learned anything, it’s that if you don’t study, you will fail. And in this case if you actively do nothing, people continually end up dead, so it’s time to start doing something.”

And as an adult, I thought, she’s right. They are right. We have not done enough to protect our children. My son was 9-years-old when the Columbine High School massacre happened on April 20, 1999 in Columbine Colorado. Twelve students and a teacher died that day. As sad and tragic as that day was, it was also a rare thing. You just couldn’t imagine that it would ever happen again. Schools are supposed to be safe places for our children. Schools are supposed to be a place of learning, friendships, youth, innocence…not a place where your child might die. 

But then more school shootings happened and more children died. Again, and again, and again.

Emma Gonzalez reminded us all of that when she spoke that day. School shootings continue to occur but these kids, these survivors weren’t going to continually put up with seeing this happen. Standing by as more children died. As she told the crowd, “We are going to be the kids you read about in textbooks,”… And I thought to myself, yes you will. You surely will. 

And as with quite a few of these young survivors speaking out, Emma was personally attacked. Lots of the kids were attacked on social media, by a few “news” agencies, and even politicians. “Scripted outrage,” “fake tears,” “cry and scream,” and one of the worst? “Crisis actors.” Just a few comments that were made about these teens. Made by adults, days after they survived one of the worst school shootings. Attacked on days while they were attending the funerals of friends, young people who died too early. Attacked days after they had huddled behind closed doors, not knowing if they would die that day. Attacked days after they had to step over the bodies of friends and teachers. 

If what these attacks meant to accomplish was to shut these kids up, the plan totally backfired. They are louder, bigger, and stronger than ever. When some adults spoke out saying “these kids need to be studying and shut up,” they spoke louder. When some adults said kids shouldn’t be telling adults what to do, they continued to do what the adults weren’t. When some adults continued to say these “kids” were too young to know what they were talking about, they continued to show just how smart and mature they were. 

Emma’s response? “That us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works: We call BS.” 

These “kids” are speaking powerful words, backed up by powerful actions and leadership. Powerful words backing up their determination that no child should ever have to worry about if they are going to die that day in school. And such compassion for those who have died and for those who have survived. These “kids” have a powerful purpose and desire to ensure that future lives be saved.

JACLYN CORIN 

Jaclyn Corin, survivor and junior class president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, never considered herself an activist. Instead, she has described herself as someone who spent days at dance class, watching Netflix in bed with her dog, and studying. She said in interviews that her most important labels consisted of sister, camp counselor, ballerina, and Stoneman Douglas Junior Class President. That was before the shooting. 

After the shooting, feeling shocked, sad, and scared, she decided to take action. Not only did she help start the social media campaign #never again, she also helped organize the March For Our Lives rally that took place yesterday, on March 24th, with over a million people marching in Washington DC and all across the world. 

She said those first meetings started small and then grew to about twenty. From there the March For Our Lives was born and her brand new label, and one I think she represents well, became activist.

Jaclyn, who lost her close friend Joaquin Oliver in the Parkland shooting, also organized the trip to Florida’s State Capital in Tallahassee to meet with state legislators, where more than 100 of her peers and chaperones joined her. She has also met with Florida Governor Rick Scott and many others, as she brings increasing visibility to gun violence. And she’s not stopping with gun violence just in schools, saying, “But as time progressed, I realized that my classmates and I needed to fight, not only for us, but for those who experience gun violence on every level.” 

Studying, marching, planning, and meeting with victims of gun violence all over. That’s what these “kids” are doing.

As Jaclyn has been quoted, “Never live your life with the idea that you’re only one person and your voice doesn’t matter.”

The “kids” want to take away our guns. NOT TRUE.

These “kids” don’t want to take away any Second Amendment rights. In fact, I personally don’t know anyone who wants that. What they do want is tighter gun control. I know there is a division when it comes to raising the age requirements for buying guns. I know there is controversy over who should and shouldn’t have access to guns. And I know that there is a difference of opinion when it comes to semi-automatic weapons. But what I also know and what these kids are reminding us of is that without compromise and changes, more children will die. We’ve watched it happen over and over again. 

As we end National Women’s History Month, a month we honor women who have marched and advocated before us and for those who continue to do so for equal rights for all, I find it only fitting to mention, Marjory Stoneman Douglas herself, who the Parkland, Florida high school was named after. 

Marjory Stoneman Douglas was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1993, where she was recognized for her achievements by President Bill Clinton. Douglas is an American journalist, author, women’s suffrage advocate, and conservationist known for her staunch defense of the Everglades. She was against efforts to drain it and reclaim the land for development. Douglas was successful in her campaign to preserve the Everglades and it is now a national park. After her death at the age of 108, President Clinton said of Douglas, “Long before there was Earth Day, Mrs. Douglas was a passionate steward of our nation’s natural resources, and particularly her Florida Everglades.” 

I think if Mrs. Douglas were alive today, she would be extremely proud of Emma Gonzalez and Jaclyn Corin, along with Sarah Chadwick, Sofie Whitney, Cameron Kasky, Alex Wind, David Hogg, and the many, many other students who have taken a stand against gun violence. 

A fitting quote of Mrs. Douglas that was shared as the students returned to school two weeks after the massacre read…

“Be a nuisance where it counts. Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action Be depressed, discouraged, and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics – but never give up.”

 

I am the mother of a 28-year-old son who I don’t have to worry about getting shot at school. In fact when he was young, the biggest “controversy” I can remember dealing with was when the Harry Potter series first came out and there were those who wanted it banned from the school library because it dealt with witchcraft. 

But I do have young grandchildren in school and believe me, I never think at this point, “Oh that would never happen here.” It happens everywhere. I want them to be young and innocent and not have to worry about getting shot at while they are at school. I don’t want that for any of our children. And neither do these “kids.” 

And these “kids?” These “kids” who are “just brats,” and “just trying to get out of school?” These “kids” have already been credited “as winning a stunning victory against the NRA in the Florida legislature earlier this month when both houses voted for various control measures.” These “kids” are getting things done, regardless if you agree or disagree with them.

These teens have been a force of resistance through their impassioned speeches, social media presence, and plain determination for stricter gun laws and proactive changes. They want to end gun violence so no child dies at school. So no child dies from gun violence. 

Emma Gonzalez and Jaclyn Corin didn’t go to school on February 14th, Valentine’s Day, thinking they were going to be shot at. They didn’t go to school that day thinking they would see friends and teachers shot and killed. They didn’t go to school that day thinking they would have to step over dead bodies, make last-minute phone calls to loved ones, or hide for hours, fearing they too would die that day. None of these students did. And the victims who didn’t make it? They certainly didn’t expect to die that day. 

They also didn’t expect to become overnight activists, doing national interviews, and creating a movement that grew so quickly it was mind-boggling. Maybe a lot of us didn’t expect it either. I mean, they are just kids. 

But they did. 

Emma, Jaclyn, and to all the rest of you smart, compassionate, brave, passionate, and determined kids…you are truly making history and even though I’ve never met you, I couldn’t be prouder of you! 

• We marched here in Colorado Springs to show our support!