On March 24th, 2018, the youth of America and other citizens voiced their opinions regarding gun safety in schools. On this date, my family and I were visiting Miami, the sister city of Parkland, which was the site of the most recent school shooting. While Parkland citizens gathered to protest the lack of gun regulations in our country, Miami citizens held a sister rally. My family and I attended this event and I was thoroughly impressed by what I witnessed.
There were a number of young speakers, many of them high school students just like myself. They stood at the microphone one at a time, and gave passionate speeches. Some of their words dealt with how to make change occur in this country, and how voting against particular candidates is crucial in making sure that proper gun laws are passed. Other parts of these speeches were focused on criticizing the NRA and candidates that accept money from that organization. The speakers did this maturely, and did not seem overly aggressive. They articulated their points wonderfully and received great crowd responses. Some of the speakers were more emotional, as they were given by survivors of the Parkland shootings who had lost their close friends to that tragedy. All in all, the speeches were excellent, inspiring, and executed perfectly. There was not a single mention of political parties; no choosing sides. The entire event was focused around the matter of children’s safety in schools, and the desperate need to change the loose restrictions on gun ownership in the United States. Some of the special guests included the mayor of Florida, and rapper Flo Rida.
The mood of this event was interesting. Every attendee was there to voice a strong opinion; many of the audience members held signs with powerful messages on them. Some of these messages were more political, while others were simple and peaceful. My favorite simply read “Arms are for hugging.” Everyone present at this event was there to fight for change, and promote the idea of peace. So there was a certain level of happiness felt at this rally, because everyone was demonstrating how to properly be peaceful. Happy songs were played in between speakers, and a grandson of Bob Marley even performed a peaceful song that engaged the crowd and put everyone in a positive mood. Some of the speakers also addressed the ideas of gratitude and appreciation for the most simple aspects of life, such as breathing, that many children have had to unfortunately lose. So there was seriousness, happiness, and also a bit of sadness because the children lost in school shootings were being mourned. Seventeen empty chairs were placed on the stage in memory of the seventeen children lost in the Parkland school shooting at Stoneman Douglas.
Witnessing this rally was a powerful experience for me and my family, and I encourage readers to participate in similar protests in the near future. The Miami rally was emotional, inspiring, and it motivated myself and others watching to go make change in the world.
