In
response to the senseless violence
that took the lives of 17 people at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
in Florida, and the more recent
shooting at Central Michigan
University that claimed the lives of
two individuals, students from
University of Detroit Jesuit
participated in a prayerful
gathering during the national “Walk
Out” movement taking place
Wednesday, March 14. (Photo by HB
Meeks/Tell Us Detroit)
Detroit
high
school
students
show
solidarity
in a
national
protest
against
gun
violence
By
Wendell
Bryant
Tell Us
Detroit
DETROIT
- They
bowed
their
heads in
honor of
the
dead.
They
carried
signs
with
messages
like
“Never
again”
and “Am
I next?”
They
railed
against
the
National
Rifle
Association
and the
politicians
who
support
it.
And
over and
over,
they
repeated
the
message:
Enough
is
enough.
All
across
metro
Detroit
and the
state,
thousands
of students
participated
in the
March 14 walkout.
It was
just a
month
ago,
that the
horrible
incident
occurred
at
Marjory
Stoneman
Douglas
High
School
in
Parkland,
Fla.,
when a
former
student
walked
into the
building
and shot
randomly,
killing
17.
In a
wave of
protests
one
historian
called
the
largest
of its
kind in
American
history,
tens of
thousands
of
students
walked
out of
their
classrooms
Wednesday
to
demand
action
on gun
violence
and
school
safety.
Demonstrations
in
Detroit
extended
from
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
High
School,
in
downtown
to the
University
of
Detroit
Jesuit
High
School
on the
city's
northwest
side, as
students
joined
the
youth-led
surge of
activism
set off
by the
Feb. 14
massacre
in
Parkland,
Florida.
Students
around
the
nation
left
class at
10 a.m.
local
time for
at least
17
minutes
— one
minute
for each
of the
dead in
the
Florida
shooting.
Some led
marches
or
rallied
on
football
fields,
while
others
gathered
in
school
gyms or
took a
knee in
the
hallway.
At
some
schools,
hundreds
of
students
poured
out. At
others,
just one
or two
walked
out in
defiance
of
administrators.
Some
issued
specific
demands
for
lawmakers,
including
mandatory
background
checks
for all
gun
sales
and a
ban on
assault
weapons
like the
one used
in the
Florida
bloodbath.
While
administrators
and
teachers
at some
schools
applauded
students
for
taking a
stand —
and some
joined
them —
others
threatened
punishment
for
missing
class.
As
the
demonstrations
unfolded,
the NRA
responded
by
posting
a photo
on
Twitter
of a
black
rifle
emblazoned
with an
American
flag.
The
caption:
“I’ll
control
my own
guns,
thank
you.”
In
joining
the
protests,
the
students
followed
the
example
set by
many of
the
survivors
of the
Florida
shooting,
who have
become
gun-control
activists,
leading
rallies,
lobbying
legislators
and
giving
TV
interviews.
Their
efforts
helped
spur
passage
last
week of
a
Florida
law
curbing
access
to
assault
rifles
by young
people.
Another
protest
against
gun
violence
is
scheduled
in
Washington
on March
24, with
organizers
saying
it is
expected
to draw
hundreds
of
thousands.
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