STUDENTS AT MANHATTAN CENTER FOR SCIENCE AND MATH (MCSM) ORGANIZE DEMONSTRATION AS PART OF THE
#ENOUGH NATIONAL SCHOOL WALKOUT FOR GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION
In response to our elected officials’ failure to address gun violence, Women’s March EMPOWER joined student activists to organize a National Student Walkout. We, the students of MCSM, have organized a local walkout in solidarity with this initiative to call for comprehensive gun violence prevention legislation.
DATE (EAST HARLEM, NEW YORK) — March 14, 2018 marks one month since the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 14 students and 3 staff members killed and many others wounded or injured. Women’s March Youth EMPOWER is calling for students, teachers, school administrators, parents, and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout for 17 minutes (in honor of the 17 lives taken in the tragedy in Parkland) at 10:00 AM across every time zone on March 14, 2018 to protest Congress’s inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.
We, the students at Manhattan Center for Science and Math, have decided that both this moment and issue are too crucial and urgent for us to stand idle. On March 14th, we will hold a rally en masse in front of our school, for which we will block off the road and have our local lawmakers speak to us to rally in solidarity as we demand change.
We MCSM students raise our voices for action against all these forms of gun violence. We students and our allies are organizing the school walkout to demand Congress pass legislation to protect us. We are not safe at school. We are not safe in our cities and towns. We need action. It is our elected officials’ jobs to keep us safe and pass federal gun reform legislation that will address the public health crisis of gun violence. We want Congress to pay attention and take note: many of us will vote this November and many others will cast their ballots in 2020.
WHO:
The students of Manhattan Center for Science and Math High School
WHAT:
#Enough School Walkout
WHERE:
280 Pleasant Avenue, New York, NY 10029; Between 114th Street & Pleasant Avenue and 116th Street & Pleasant Avenue
WHEN:
March 14th, 2018 at 10:00 AM
BACKGROUND:
On the afternoon of February 14, 2018, a mass shooting occurred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were killed, making it one of the world’s deadliest school massacres. Women’s March Youth EMPOWER was founded after the 2016 election to encourage youth to organize around issues in our communities and build collective power. Women’s March Youth EMPOWER has called for students, teachers, school administrators, parents and allies to take part in a #NationalSchoolWalkout at 10am across every time zone on March 14, 2018. Over 1,000 demonstrations have been registered with 200,000 students, staff, and parents to participate.