March For Our Lives Announces Summer Tour

June 4, 2018 March for Our Lives
Protestors marching, sign reads "Fear has no place in our schools"

This summer, the March For Our Lives team will hit the road. Starting on Friday, June 15, the Parkland teens will join the Peace March in Chicago.

This summer bus tour will involve the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida. These teens – and activists – leading this event are dedicating themselves to making gun reform change. The teens leading the organization include Emma Gonzalez, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky, and graduates David Hogg and Delaney Tarr, Mashable reports.

“Our first stop is in Chicago, where we’ll be joining the Peace March on June 15th,” the March For Our Lives coordinator said in an email. “From there we are traveling from city to city, focusing on places where the NRA has bought and paid for politicians who refuse to take simple steps to save our lives.”

“We’ll also be visiting a number of communities that have been affected by gun violence to meet fellow survivors and use our voices to amplify theirs.”

Artists Chance the Rapper and Jennifer Hudson will appear as special guests at the March For Our Lives: Road to Change movement, starting at Saint Sabina Church.

The goal of the March For Our Lives movement is to bring together as many young people as possible to register and vote come November. By promoting gun reform, their mission is to increase the voting demographic of young adults across the nation.

In the Road to Change action plan, they will reportedly make over “50 planned stops in over 20 states including Iowa, Texas, California, South Carolina, and Connecticut,” including “a separate Florida tour with more than 25 stops, visiting every congressional district.”

“At each stop, we’ll register young people to vote and educate them on the reforms we need to save lives, and whether their local candidates and elected officials support these reforms or support the NRA,” the plan said.

The movement plans to challenge the politician support of the NRA, while at the same time, bringing attention to real life issues that affect people in the nation, such as gun violence and trauma as a result of that.

“That’s the main reason we’re starting in Chicago,” Diego Pfeiffer said, a recent graduate of Stoneman Douglas. “Lots of people have their own horrible experiences to share, but they don’t have cameras following them around like we do. We need to give them a spotlight too.”

“We’ll make our voices heard, register young people to vote, get them to the polls, and change America’s gun policies so that these senseless tragedies stop,” said Parkland student Ryan Deitsch.

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Brandon Walker
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Brandon Walker is a junior finance major at Temple University. He is a committed writer and jazz pianist. Brandon has written for The Temple News and is interested in a career in business and communications. He can be reached at brandon.walker@temple.edu.

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