So went the refrain at the massive New York City wing of the March For Our Lives. Police officers told me they were hearing over their radios that over a hundred and sixty thousand protestors had taken to the streets this last Saturday to take action on getting some new gun control laws in place.
I try to stay away from talking politics on Steemit, but this is an issue too prescient to ignore.
On the subway there we tried to explain to our little ones what this march was about and realized that there was an important comparison to be made between materialism and the reason for protest. Putting things before people has become an American staple and one it’s increasingly important to address.
As we exited the subway, things were already in full affect...
We had to walk uptown 14 blocks just to enter the back of the mass of sign holding humanity.
We entered the march right by my grandmother Madeline’s house, which reminding me of a simpler time of my own childhood when the proliferation of guns hadn’t yet become such an insanely commercial endeavor. Like so many forces in our modern society where the greed of a few, represented by insanely well paid lobbyists, outweigh the general human interest. My kids with their regular active shooter drills in school aren’t as lucky.
Not that gun violence is something new, the protest took us right past the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot.
I was thankful for the NYPD’s garbage truck patrol, which it took me a moment to realize was to protect the crowd from vehicular assault — bringing to mind that assault rifles aren’t the only thing that people use to kill other people these days, just a lightweight, convenient and very well crafted option with proven lethality.
We waited nearly an hour for the massive crowd to start moving. Our 5 year old got crazy bored and started driving me insane so we climbed the wall of a rock in Central Park and got a nice high vantage.
And one of the funniest, and perhaps most poignant slogans went to:
“If we rename school uterus, maybe Congress will want to do something about the people dying inside of it”.
And even where we went for lunch they agreed…
In Their Own Words
And here’s what our kids thought:
Our 5 year old:
Not great, because for some parts we were just standing.
It was good that it was saying no guns.
Our 2 year old:
That we go to the march was good; when I ate salt I cried. (Which I’m guessing was in relation to when he at sugar off the table at lunch).
"After an hour plus of standing...I felt my feet walking. I felt, in community, an even deeper sadness for all of the victims and their families. I felt open hearts that, maybe purposefully, maybe not, didn't choose to fill the space with chatter and noise. I enjoyed the silence. I held tight to my big boy's hand with my little guy nuzzling against my neck in the backpack carrier and I looked around and saw that my eyes weren't the only ones filled with tears. All sorts of tears falling from down my face, from joy in coming together to support something so vitally important, to utter terror that I too could lose one of my sweet boys in a senseless act of violence and everything in between. It felt to me like a new kind of fresh power. ("Perhaps, one of action and not of empty words?" she wondered, hopefully.)
Additionally, I found it powerful to acknowledge that this march was a 1st for so many of these young people. These kids (and teachers and parents and grandparents and humans) have something they really care about and, although some are still finding their voices, some are shouting their message to the tree tops. And I, for one, am very proud of them and see their ray of sunshine peeking through the clouds.
One of the most exciting moments for me was riding home on the subway and seeing a grizzly New Yorker have a super engaged conversation with a dozen orange wearing teenage girls. Their lively conversation ended in his encouraging them to keep it up, and tell them that their message is super important to carry forward. And that even if you get pushed around, fight for your rights and don’t stop for all of us.
More and more this seems to be less of a partisan issue and more of a greed vs. sanity issue but if you don’t want gun control, please let me know why in the comments below. I’d love to hear your thoughts and discuss!
Yours in the Chain,
Doug
I am a Brooklyn based writer, film & commercial director, and crypto-enthusiast, my projects include @HardFork-series an upcoming narrative crypto-noir and my novel Dwelling will soon be premiering exclusively on Steemit, and you can check out more of my work at dougkarr.com, piefacepictures.com, and www.imdb.com/name/nm1512347
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