March for Our Lives

On Saturday, March 24, Donna and I met up with Monica at her house in Silver Spring and we, along with John, Susan and Beth, walked to the nearby Metro station to begin our journey to participate in the March for Our Lives event in Washington, D.C.

We were in one of a thousand tributaries feeding people into a powerful river of humanity onto Pennsylvania Avenue, along which sit those two most important institutions, the White House and The U.S. Capitol, 1.6 miles apart. Time, Inc. and other news outlets estimated the crowd at 800,000.

It was an amazing gathering of diversity – young, middle-aged, elderly, white, black, war veterans, hipsters, men, women. Many, many teachers. It brought to mind the antiwar protests I attended as a teenager – peace signs, posters with slogans from Crosby, Stills & Nash, and a vibe of togetherness and empowerment as we exercised our democratic right to peacefully congregate and advocate for change.

Why did we come? To listen to the inspiring speeches by survivors of the recent massacre in Parkland, Florida, to be a part of an historic movement, and most of all, to tell our policymakers that weapons made for efficient mass-killing on battlefields have no place on our streets or in our homes or schools, and if our elected officials ignore us, they will face our reprisal this November.

Here are some photos:

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