“Our youth are not failing the system; the system is failing our youth. Ironically, the very youth who are being treated the worst are the young people who are going to lead us out of this nightmare.”
Rachel Jackson
In the conversation about #gunreform that has skyrocketed anew since the #MarjoryStonemanDouglas shooting on February 14th, our country is being led by the young.
This is momentous, and I firmly believe that ALL the courageous youth leading this movement should be highly extolled, but we just can’t ignore the reality that young black and brown people have been driving this charge for decades, day in and day out in the streets of our cities and have simply not received the megaphone that the Parkland students have.
They are aware of this and are working through it because that’s what young people do. (Students from Parkland have met with students from neighborhoods plagued by daily gun violence in recent weeks).
But we adults and parents must remember that #gunreform is about more than background checks and making it harder to purchase mass weapons. We have to wrestle with the reality that gun reform should include ending gun violence that is fueled by institutional racism, poverty, and state violence.
In a Facebook Live #daringdiscussion I did with the @womensmarch, I first heard @lsarsour say “those who are closest to the problem are closest to the solution.”
And thus, today as we joined with thousands around the country to demand action on gun reform, I know that we must follow the black and brown young people who are closest to the problem of gun violence.
Did you participate in a #walkout today? As a parent, teacher, femtor, ally or student? What was your experience?
I only had my two three-year-olds today at the @marchforourlives @schoolwalkout Rally in Prospect Park (who were primarily just cold and interested in riding their scooters).
But while telling their dad on video what we were doing, L quickly remembered from our discussion on Sunday “a gun is not fun.” And when I asked what he would want to say to lawmakers to put on a poster, Z brilliantly asked, “why do you have that gun?”
Yes. Let’s just start there. Why do you have that gun?
#raisingimagination #imaginegunreform #imagineendinggunviolence #studentsdemandaction #enoughisenough #nationalwalkout #standupspeakout