Dear march organizers,
You had quite a weekend.
I took my 8-year-old son with our two signs to the Vermont march in Montpelier, Vermont. We saw so many people who believed in you, were inspired by you, and who continue to support and follow you. I’m so grateful for all of the strength, time, energy, courage, and passion you brought to this important and overdue work, not just the march but all of the speaking engagements, the lobbying, the school walkouts, everything it takes to build this surge of a movement.
You, and all who stand with you, have a choice with where to take this, post-march. You can continue your fight for stricter regulations of guns until you achieve your goal. And when you do, because I know it’s a when and not and if, you will feel incredibly proud of yourselves. You will have accomplished something many would have thought impossible: reduce mass shootings and save the lives of thousands.
Or, you can take a step toward more profound social change: an expanded, all-inclusive definition of “safety.” You can make the decision to build a new human society where everybody gets a piece of that safety.
Many who care about injustice, violence, and systemic aggression have realized that single-issue politics is a losing game. Our survival depends on living that great new term, intersectionality.
I’m hoping you decide on option two. But this is by far the harder path. To actually pull this off, we need a strong and unified movement. There are many nonprofits and advocacy groups who are already doing a lot. So are lots of local governments, community groups, and individuals. But your movement and your leaders have the momentum and strength to lead these efforts on a larger scale, to take this on as a long-term commitment, to be and live the change.
The thing is, there’s no future if we continue single-issue activism. Stricter gun control won’t bring the Great Barrier Reef back to life. Banning assault weapons won’t detoxify our drinking water. Background checks won’t provide every American with adequate and affordable health insurance. And better mental health services won’t reverse climate change that will eventually make Planet Earth uninhabitable. Some say we’re beyond the point of no return. I doubt that. Humans are tenacious, young people especially so. You’re powerful and you have the stamina to see this through.
After my son and I got home on Saturday afternoon, I turned on my computer and watched you speaking at the rallies. I began to cry. At first I thought all the needless deaths had hit me hard. But I realized it was more than that. I cried tears of joy for the first moment of hope I’d had in many years.
Reach out. The older generations will help, support, join. We want what you want but we haven’t been able to make it happen yet. We believe in you. We’ve got your back.
May you be blessed by the spirits of justice, healing, and change.
Gail Marlene Schwartz