On Saturday of last week I watched the Washington D.C. protest speeches and then walked downtown for a view of the local March For Our LIves presentations and the march to the court house.  The entire event had been set up by two of my Seniors (might as well count that as a Senior Project) and would include speeches from local government officials, the Ukiah Unified Superintendent, and other students.  Then the march would take place and upon return there would be a more festive atmosphere with music and local organizations promoting voter registration and fairly typical Democratic policy angles. 

I attended the event more for curiosity than participation.  I like to see the empowerment of my students and their desires for positive political change, even if I might have some disagreements about the message (see below).  I stayed in the background for the most part but was eventually recognized by one of my former colleagues and a couple of current students.  I stuck around for the speeches and the march.  Then I grabbed a March For Our Lives sign for the classroom and walked back home.

A few thoughts:

1.

This is Washington D.C. speaker Naomi Walder.  She’s eleven.  Her speech was amazing for an adult, much less an eleven year old.

2.

This is Ukiah speaker (and one of my students) Indigo Funk.  He’s a Senior.  His speech was given without notes and with a calm yet passionate articulation that was encapsulating.  It was the best speech I heard from any location yesterday.

3. 

Parkland student David Hogg is probably not the symbol that the movement wants to follow and his portrayal of politicians as child killers and out for “blood money” (along with his tirades) is probably counter-productive.

4.  The National Rifle Association’s leadership seems to have decided to signal to the lowest common denominator and move significantly towards the alt-Right.  However there are millions of members of the NRA that promote safe gun use and could probably be swayed into agreeing with increased Background Checks and mental health provisions.  But generalizing the NRA is making their membership seem like gun-toting Oakies that don’t care about children.  The 2nd Amendment is a fundamental civil liberty that is engrained in our heritage and culture.  It’s ok not to like it, but to condemn the amendment and it’s supporters is casting a very wide net.

5.  It’s really difficult not to get behind some of the basic ideas of the March. 

-Universal background checks.

-Longer waiting periods.

-Mental health screening.

-Banning assault weapons.

I’ve asked a variety of gun owners about these regulations and a vast majority of them support the ideas.  Those that don’t usually drift into the “tyranny of government” opinion, which is hard to legitimize when the government owns nuclear weapons, tanks, and drones. 

Part of me wants to see a generation of youth finally engaged in positive governmental change if only because their ownership seems to have waned in the last forty years.  Now they have a cause to latch on to bring forth a bit of much needed energy.