Videos: Students lead millions in the ‘March for Our Lives’ around the world against gun violence
‘I have a dream that enough is enough.’
WATCH: Emma Gonzalez names the murdered Parkland victims and observes several minutes of silence in a 6-minute, 20-second speech that covered the same time it took the gunman to kill 17 people in her high school:
— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2018
"Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job." pic.twitter.com/OrTfuTdSNn
March for Our Lives was the biggest gun control protest that the world has seen in recent times. According to CBS News, about 200,000 demonstrators joined the rally at Washington DC alone. Beyond that, students held events and rallies at more than 800 locations around the world, including London, Paris, Sydney, Mumbai, Tokyo and hundreds of places just within the United States.
It might be hard for the US lawmakers and President Donald Trump to ignore this one, if for no other reason than the sheer numbers chanting, “Enough is enough” and demanding legislation to control gun.
Like most of the protests thus far, including the National School Walkout, March for Our Lives, too, was led by young, articulate students who delivered powerful, impassioned messages for gun control. Among the ones already capturing the world’s imagination was Emma Gonzalez’s address (video above).
Gonzalez has been at the forefront of the protests ever since she survived the Parkland shooting. The 18-year-old’s speech was proof that sometimes, silence can speak louder than words. She explained her speech in a single tweet:
Real Quick: my speech today was abt 6 mins & 30 secs, including both my speech and my silence. The fact that people think the silence was 6 minutes... imagine how long it would have felt if it actually was 6 minutes, or how it would feel if you had to hide during that silence
— Emma González (@Emma4Change) March 25, 2018
“I have a dream that enough is enough,” said nine-year-old Yolanda Renee King, echoing the words of her grandfather, Martin Luther King Jr in the video below.
“I have a dream that enough is enough.”
— Channel 4 News (@Channel4News) March 25, 2018
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Granddaughter Yolanda Renee King was one of several young people to speak against gun violence at Washington DC’s March For Our Lives. pic.twitter.com/PskN5R0A4m
Even little girls from the third-grade protested and chanted, “Show me what democracy looks like.”
Third graders from the East Village Community School at the March for our Lives in New York. @NYTNational pic.twitter.com/X6oNIkVCYk
— Annie Correal (@anniecorreal) March 24, 2018
Eleven-year-old Naomi Wadler was proof that age is just a number. Her voice rang across the crowd as she represented African-American girls “whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper...who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential.” Watch her crucial address in the video below (and snippets above).
"I am here to acknowledge and represent the African American girls whose stories don't make the front page" –Naomi Wadler, 11-years-old pic.twitter.com/SMDgcPHHtg
— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 24, 2018
But it wasn’t just girl students speaking against gun violence and fighting for those who can no longer fight. Their male counterparts, like David Hogg and Ryan Deitsch, rose to the occasion to make some very valid points against gun violence, in the videos below.
"We say no more!" -@davidhogg111 #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/FN0aAgxHPl
— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 24, 2018
"We need to arm our teachers with pencils, pens, paper, and the money they need." -@Ryan_Deitsch #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/EzRr0c578g
— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 24, 2018
It wasn’t just the students who demanded to gain back control of their lives from the National Rifle Association and Congressmen. The students were supported by adults across the world, and many of them showed up at the rally in Washington DC to pledge their support, including Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Ben Affleck, Stephen King and Jimmy Fallon.
Most poignant was the presence of Sir Paul McCartney, who was additionally driven to the march because of the assassination of fellow Beatle John Lennon. “One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it’s important to me,” he said.
"One of my best friends was killed in gun violence right around here, so it's important to me," says Paul McCartney, remembering his Beatles bandmate John Lennon at the March for Our Lives in New York City https://t.co/u4aBKWC1Jb pic.twitter.com/8Jnjn8A3xH
— CNN (@CNN) March 24, 2018
Paul McCartney says go vote. Vote! #MarchForOurLives NYC pic.twitter.com/uLRVBanCqm
— Lorna Mae Johnson (@lornamaejohnson) March 24, 2018
Several artistes also performed at the rally, among them Lin-Manuel Miranda, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Vino Valentino and Jennifer Hudson.
DC Choir with Jennifer Hudson singing “The Times They Are a-Changin’” at the #MarchForOurLives on 3/24/18:https://t.co/e6k6KamhBq
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) March 24, 2018
Ban the AR-15 #MARCHFOROURLIVES pic.twitter.com/wuFdLuUpvL
— vino valentino (@VicMensa) March 24, 2018