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NPR Ed
Student Activist: Politicians Are ‘Afraid
Of Us Because We Show Up’
Since the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., a year ago, student
activists have marched, testified, occupied government buildings and
pushed for change through gun control legislation.
On Wednesday, young people packed a House Judiciary Committee hearing
for a bill that would expand background checks for almost all gun
purchases. It was the first time the committee heard testimony on gun
violence prevention since Republicans took control of the House in 2011.
“I’m personally here because we finally have a gun-sense majority in
the House, and we want to hold them accountable,” said Melissa
Altschiller, 18, a freshman at George Washington University.
Briana Spainhour, 18, is also a freshman at George Washington, and
she’s co-executive director of the school’s March For Our Lives
chapter. She believes she and her peers wield a certain amount of power
on Capitol Hill.
She said, “Honestly, we scare [politicians] a little bit, and I've had
staffers say that to our face. They're afraid of us because we show up
and we know how to use social media. ... They don't really know what
they're doing, and we've been doing this our whole lives, like, ‘We've
got this!’ ”
“The reason we’re even here today, and that we got into the House, and
that [the background check bill] is even up for debate, is because of
the work we’ve done,” said college freshman Briana Spainhour, 18.
Aalayah Eastmond, 17, is a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High
School. She testified at the hearing about her experience during last
year’s shooting, and implored lawmakers to consider a bigger picture.
“I feel like we're lacking the conversation on marginalized communities
that deal with gun violence on a day-to-day basis,” she told NPR Ed.
Marjorie Stoneman Douglas alum Robert Schentrup, 19, and Tatiana
Washington, 18, a student organizer from Milwaukee, wait outside the
House Judiciary Committee hearing room.
George Washington freshman Eve Levenson, 19, is a regional director for
March For Our Lives. She said the activism of the past year has come
with ups and downs.
“In the span of a week of organizing, I will feel angry, and I will
feel hopeful, and I will feel frustrated. I will also feel inspired,
and I think that all those emotions go into making a successful and
powerful movement.”
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