Grafton Globe Newspaper
Winter 2020 Edition
On March 24th, thousands upon thousands of unified and determined citizens marched all across America during the March for Our Lives protest. The protest centered around ideas pertaining to stronger gun control. The March was a student-led protest, led by the leaders of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, a school in Parkland, Florida, which had a school shooting back in February. The students of MSD have triggered a wave of strength all across America. I sat down with Devin Kelly, who attended the most-attended march in Washington D.C.
Q: Tell me about the general atmosphere during the march. A: I would say that it was a really positive and warm atmosphere for most of the people there. A lot of people understood their stance on the political issue, even though it was not about politics. We all supported one another, too. Of course, there were a few people who had a different view, but they had the right to share theirs. Q: This march was especially significant because it was organized by people of our generation. What does it mean to you, considering you are a part of this generation, and therefore, this movement? A: I think it was really special because unlike other movements we have seen, the only students on the stage in Washington D.C were the students from Parkland and from around the country. The only people who were over the age of twenty were the performers, such as Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande, but they only stood on the stage for a minute after their performance and left. Q: Did you come across any activists upholding the second amendment, meaning they were protesting gun control? A: Almost everyone there was in support of gun control, but there were some people who strongly believed the second amendment should be taken away. There were also those who were also more conservative, and did not agree with some of the reforms that the protest was about, such as raising the age to obtain guns to twenty-one. But everyone was there to have a conversation and come to some sort of a compromise. Q: Did you make a sign? Did any signs stick out to you? A: I personally did not bring a sign because I thought it would be annoying to carry around all day. One of the signs that stuck out to me was painted with fake blood to symbolize a bullet wound. Many sign talked about the idea to arm teachers with weapons, and teachers should be supported better financially, and they should be supplied with school tools instead of weapons. Q: What made you want to go? A: It was a really spontaneous decision, because it is seven hours away, but every generation has their movement. Looking back at them, from civil rights to feminist movements, just being there and being in the atmosphere, taking photos, and being able to tells your kids later on was a pretty cool thing. Q: Why did you go to Washington D.C instead of a city closer to you, such as Boston or Worcester? A: Specifically, to hear the Stoneman Douglas students. We see them on social media all the time. There were speakers in Boston too, but I wanted to go to the direct source and hear what they had to say in person. Emma Gonzalez was the most famous speaker out of all of them, because of her social media platform, and she delivered a moving speech. David Hogg was also one of the speakers and leaders. Most of the students chose to go to D.C instead of other locations. Emma really stood out with her speech, or lack thereof because she stood on stage for six minutes and twenty seconds to signify the time it took for the event to happen on February 14th. Q: What did you take from Emma’s speech? A: From her speech in particular, was that life is so valuable, and she is a strong supporter of the extremes of gun control compared to some of the other student. She emphasized that the lives taken in that small amount of time are much more valuable than guns in our country. Q: Let’s shift to March 14th, when our school took part in remembering those seventeen lives. Can you make any comparisons between our ceremony in Grafton and the march? A: They were definitely different atmospheres. What we did was more so a memorial, and I thought it was a wise decision. We focused on the GHS community, and even though we want to be politically active and educated, sometimes it’s better to do that on your own time, than when you have the responsibility of unifying a school’s environment.
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February 2020
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