On March 14, the one-month anniversary of the Stoneman Douglas H.S. shooting in Florida, students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies will take part in a #NATIONALSCHOOLWALKOUT for 17 minutes at 10am across every time zone. https://www.actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/enough-national-school-walkout Guest Hillary Griffin-Bilik is hosting the walkout at Roseway Heights School in Northeast Portland where her second grader goes to school. She has been involved with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, which was formed in the wake of the Newtown, CT school shooting in December, 2012. Our other guest, Sarah Buckmaster is also involved in the movement to protect students from gun violence and has two children attending Roseway Heights.
Also on the program, by phone, is Suzanne Cohen, President of the Portland Association of Teachers, who is publicly supporting the #Enough school walkout and the #NeverAgain movement.
We may be at the beginning stages of a full-blown national student movement to curtail rampant gun violence and school shootings in the United States. The students of Stoneman Douglas are showing great courage, savvy and grace under pressure and have galvanized students, parents and others across the country to take a stand against a dysfunctional culture of violence and alienation. They are organizing their own national day of action on March 24 under the banner "Never Again," which they've taken as their incipient movement's slogan.
Opening song: "To the Teeth" by Ani DiFranco from the album of the same name (on Youtube, with lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQWUf-Kxd2c)
- KBOO