March for Our Lives

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Logo March for Our Lives
Protest poster "We march for:" with the names of the victims of Parkland
A poster at the MfoL in Washington, DC: "A child (not Trump ) should lead them"

The organization March For Our Lives (short: MfOL , German literally March for our lives in the sense of demonstration so that we can save our lives ) is a protest movement that has grown from local initiatives in the USA to the global mass movement in a relatively short time advocates effective measures to control firearms in private hands. It also opposes the influence of the gun lobby on political decisions.

The protests were triggered by the school massacre in Parkland in Florida on February 14, 2018, in which 17 people were shot dead by a former student within about six minutes in the course of a rampage . Together with Never Again MSD - the organization founded by students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in response to the massacre at their school - the demonstrations were organized and led by survivors of the crime and the families of those killed. This was preceded by a series of comparable violent crimes with numerous fatalities in various parts of the United States before 2018 .

The protest movement had its temporary climax on March 24, 2018: On this day, more than 700 rallies took place in all 50 states of the USA , of which the largest in Washington, DC , with an estimated 800,000 participants , were slogans : "Protect children, not guns!" "Never! again" ( Never again ), "change" ( change! ) or "enough is enough!" ( enough is enough ). March for Our Lives rallies were announced in over 40 countries and over 840 locations worldwide . For these solidarity rallies , the usual reaction to school massacres in the USA in the form of “Thoughts and Prayers” (“We are with you with our thoughts and prayers”) is no longer sufficient.

In the USA itself, several million people demonstrated on March 24, 2018 for stricter gun laws in the country . B. a complete ban on firearms with a military appearance (so-called " assault rifles ") in the hands of civilians and an increase in the age of weapons purchases to 21 years. The demonstrations are aimed primarily against the interests, influence and role of the US arms lobby , in particular against the National Rifle Association (NRA), one of the largest of around 15 different North American organizations that represent the interests of private gun owners under gun law .

In addition to supporting and solidarity artists, first and foremost survivors and witnesses of school massacres and other acts of gun violence ( Gunviolence ) came to the microphones on the stages in the USA ; Big names of the American show and film business like Oprah Winfrey , George Clooney and his wife Amal as well as Steven Spielberg helped with the financing of the organization.

Further forms of action by the protest movement

A few days earlier on March 13, activists had placed 7,000 pairs of shoes on the lawn in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, in memory of the students who had been shot dead in the United States since December 2012 ; The National School Walkout Rally took place in the United States on March 14, and was attended by over one million students and teachers.

Template for cutting out a " price tag " for $ 1.05 to hang or hang on

"Don't Put a Price on Our Lives"

After the Republican US Senator Marco Rubio received over $ 3.3 million from the NRA to support his election campaign, MoOL made under the motto “Don't Put a Price on Our Lives” ") Calculates that every student in his state Florida is worth $ 1.05 to him:" There are 3,140,167 students enrolled in Florida. Marco Rubio has received $ 3,303,355 from the NRA. That comes out to $ 1.05 per student ”(“ There are 3,140,167 registered students in Florida. Marco Rubio received $ 3,303,355 from the NRA. That's $ 1.05 per student ”). Various speakers at the main rally in Washington, DC B. had this price tag attached to their arm as a template that could be downloaded from the Internet. At the beginning of April, Sarah Chadwick from Never Again MSD announced that she would publish and offer corresponding templates for price tags and stickers for candidates from all other US states.

Vote them out

Associated with the protests is an action with the motto Vote them out (“ Vote them out ”) to register for the US “ midterm elections ” in November of that year (it is assumed here, among other things, that a high turnout of the opposition against President Trump and Republicans will benefit). During the Washington march , around 25,000 people registered as first-time voters; In total, around 90 million young people will vote for the first time in the mid-term elections in the USA in autumn 2018.

Washington, DC Main Event

Washington, DC
View of the MfoL stage in front of the Capitol

The main event on March 24, 2018 on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC was attended by 800,000 people, according to organizers.

In addition to US stars such as Miley Cyrus , Ariana Grande and Jennifer Hudson, survivors of the Parkland massacre such as David Hogg , Cameron Kasky, 17-year-old Lauren Tilley and other victims of gun violence appeared on the stage. Emma González , one of the key players in the Parkland-based Never-Again MSD movement , was the last to take the stage. After she called up the names of her 17 classmates who were shot, she was silent for five minutes, some tearfully. She ended this silence with the explanation for its duration: "Six minutes and 20 seconds have passed since I came on stage". According to their own statement, the audience and spectators should imagine the duration of the rampage at their school. She then described that the perpetrator initially walked away free, threw away his weapon and was only arrested after an hour, ending with the appeal "Fight for your lives! Before it is someone elses job" ("Fight for your life. Before it is the job." other is ”).

Before that, the nine-year-old Yolanda Renee King, a granddaughter of the American civil rights activist Martin Luther King who was shot on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee, spoke to the protesters : She said, referring to the famous, almost at the same place on the march Her grandfather's speech " I Have a Dream " in front of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1963 in Washington for Work and Freedom said she too had a dream, namely of a world without weapons. Eleven-year-old Naomi Wadler recalled the overlooked and forgotten African-American female victims of gunfire attacks. Seventeen-year-old Edna Chavez, a sister of Ricardo Chavez, who was shot in Los Angeles, spoke on behalf of the people of the United States with Hispanic American roots. She said that she learned to hide from bullets before she learned to read ("I learned how to duck from bullets before I learned how to read"). Sixteen-year-old Mya Middleton stated: "Guns have become the voice of America & the government is becoming more negligent" ("Guns have become the voice of America and the government is becoming more negligent"). Eighteen-year-old Samantha Fuentes appeared with gunshot wounds from the Parkland massacre.

Sister marches

About 20,000 people took part in the march on March 24, 2018 in the location of the February 14 ( Valentine's Day ) 2018 massacre and thus at the starting point of the protests in Parkland ( Florida ).

On the march in New York City , among others were Paul McCartney and his wife to see. One of the four Beatles and one of his best friends, John Lennon , had also been killed by gun violence.

Solidarity rallies were also held in Germany, including in Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.

support

To support such. B. from March 23, 2018 at the invitation of the US edition of the Guardian staff of the school newspaper The Eagle Eye ("Das Adlerauge") of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool help design the homepage of the US Guardian as guest editors for 48 hours. You published z. B. a response to an interview from George Clooney , in which he said that "they made him proud of his country again". Republican Senator Marco Rubio said, "Parkland survivors have moved more in five weeks than they had in the previous 15 years."

Former US President Barack Obama tweeted:

“ Michelle and I are so inspired by all the young people who made today's marches happen. Keep at it. You're leading us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change. "

“Michelle and I are so excited about all the young people who made today's marches possible. Keep it up. You lead us forward. Nothing can stand in the way of millions of voices calling for change. "

Among the supporters were z. B. also Lady Gaga with her foundation Born this way (“ Born this way ”), Taylor Swift or Kim Kardashian with her husband Kanye West .

Numerous companies and private individuals offered the participants free transport, accommodation and meals.

backgrounds

In April 2017, a quarter of a year after his inauguration , the new US President Donald Trump made an appearance in front of the leadership of the NRA in Atlanta with regard to the term of office of his predecessor Barack Obama that an "eight-year attack" on US gun rights was over . Trump advocates a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution , which gives US citizens the right to own weapons. Like the majority of Republicans, he rejects the tightening of gun laws, as they are not suitable for preventing acts of violence. Rather, he blames inadequate therapy options and preventive measures for rampage. He also stated that violent criminals would specifically choose facilities for their acts in which the carrying of weapons was prohibited (“gun free zones”), so where no one could stop gunmen early by using counter-violence. After the Paris terrorist attacks of November 2015, Trump caused a sensation when he blamed the strict gun laws in France for the high number of victims.

Since the 1999 Columbine High School rampage, an active shooter has threatened more than 187,000 children in at least 193 schools in the United States. According to statistics, around 30,000 people die from weapons in the USA each year, and over 20,000 suicide . According to the law, alcohol can only be sold to people aged 21 and over, but semi-automatic weapons can be sold to 18-year-olds.

Reactions

The White House issued a statement on March 24th which said, “We applaud the many brave young Americans who are today exercising their constitutional right under Article 1 (freedom of expression). Protecting our children is a top priority for the President ”.

The NRA responded in advance on Facebook “Fight for the safety of our children by joining the NRA” or at the same place: “Today's protests are not spontaneous, gun-hating billionaires and Hollywood elites manipulate and instrumentalize children as part of their plan to DESTROY the second amendment and deprive us of our right to protect ourselves and our loved ones. "

Laura Ingraham

Laura Ingraham , popular US talk show host of the Fox News telecast The Ingraham Angle went on March 28 via Tweet about Parkland survivors and leading Never again 'MSD activists David Hogg funny that four different California universities rejected his applications ("David Hogg Rejected By Four Colleges To Which He Applied and Whines About It"). David Hogg responded by tweeted twelve companies to boycott the show. Laura Ingraham initially apologized again on Twitter; 36 hours later, nine of the twelve companies addressed had already responded to the boycott, first the Nutrish company , and finally (March 31) another one, including the Internet portals TripAdvisor , Hulu and Wayfair , as well as Expedia , Johnson & Johnson and the Global corporation Nestlé .

Pope Francis

On March 25, the day after the protest marches, the Catholic Pope Francis appealed to the youth of the world at his Palm Sunday message on St. Peter's Square in Rome : “Dear young people, you have it in you to shout [even if we are older] People and leaders very often remain corruptly silent ”.

Ban on bump stocks

On the day before the marches, US Attorney General Jeff Sessions presented a bill to ban " bump stocks, " which are devices that enable semi-automatic weapons to fire a quasi-fully automatic sequence of fire like machine guns . After that, American gun owners would either have to destroy these parts or give them to government agencies. US President Donald Trump also tweeted on the flight to his holiday and weekend residence Mar-a-Lago on March 23 that there would be such a law in the USA. Among other things, with "Bump Fire" in the mass murder in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, 58 people were killed and 851 others injured.

Award

See also

Web links

Commons : March for Our Lives  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ You Marched Now We Fight For Our Lives. March For Our Lives. ( Statement of movement )
  2. ↑ Julian Heissler: March For Our Lives: Is that enough? In: The time . March 23, 2018, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed March 24, 2018]).
  3. ↑ a b c d e Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against gun violence - "Protect children, not guns!" In: DLF24 . March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018 .
  4. ↑ March For Our Lives - March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018 (American English).
  5. ↑ What is required is the reintroduction of the "Federal Assault Weapons Ban" from 1994. John Lott , for example, is critical of this ban on weapons based on their appearance : [1] .
  6. Jump up ↑ Washington Anti-Gun Protests - Six minutes and 20 seconds of silence. In: Spiegel-Online . March 24, 2018, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  7. ↑ "March for Our Lives" - mass protest against gun violence in the USA. In: StN.de . March 24, 2018, accessed March 27, 2018 .
  8. ↑ a b c d Thomas J. Spang (SZ correspondent in Washington, DC ) with dpa : Emma's tears move America. In: SZ-Online . Retrieved March 26, 2018 .
  9. ^ Resources - March For Our Lives . In: March For Our Lives . ( marchforourlives.com [accessed April 1, 2018]). Resources - March For Our Lives ( Memento April 2, 2018 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ↑ marchforourlives.com ( Memento from March 25, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, April 1, 2018)
  11. ↑ Sarah Chadwick // #NEVERAGAIN on Twitter . In: Twitter . ( twitter.com [accessed April 2, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Register to Vote to End Gun Violence | March For Our Lives - March 24, 2018 . In: March For Our Lives . ( marchforourlives.com [accessed March 24, 2018]).
  13. ↑ a b Judith Horchert: March for our lives: gun lobby etched against demonstrators . In: Spiegel Online . March 25, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed March 25, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Here Are The Most Powerful Speeches From March For Our Lives. Retrieved April 2, 2018 .
  15. ↑ Kayla Epstein, Teddy Amenabar: The 6 most memorable speeches at the March for Our Lives in DC In: Washington Post . March 24, 2018, ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed April 2, 2018]).
  16. ↑ CBS News: Emma González: "Fight for your lives before it's someone else's job". March 24, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018 .
  17. ↑ March for our lives: Emma Gonzalez is silent - for the length of a massacre . In: Spiegel Online . March 25, 2018 ( video on Spiegel Online [accessed March 25, 2018]).
  18. ↑ Emma Gonzalez's emotional speech. (Video, 4: 34 min) In: ORF.at . March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Martin Luther King's Granddaughter, 9, Gives Powerful Speech at March For Our Lives. Retrieved April 2, 2018 .
  20. ↑ NBC News: 11-Year-Old Naomi Wadler's Speech At The March For Our Lives (Full) | NBC News. March 24, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018 .
  21. ^ CBS News: Edna Chavez: "I learned to duck bullets before I learned to read". March 24, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018 .
  22. ^ CBS News: Mya Middleton: "Guns have become the voice of America & the government is becoming more negligent". March 24, 2018, accessed April 2, 2018 .
  23. ↑ Kayla Epstein, Teddy Amenabar: The 6 most memorable speeches at the March for Our Lives in DC In: Washington Post . March 24, 2018, ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed April 2, 2018]).
  24. ↑ a b US gun law - Hundreds of thousands expected to demo - government wants to ban bump stocks . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed on March 24, 2018]).
  25. ^ News, sport and opinion from the Guardian's US edition. Retrieved March 23, 2018 .
  26. ^ The Eagle Eye - Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, One Story at a Time. Retrieved March 23, 2018 .
  27. ^ The editors of Guardian US: Parkland students take over Guardian US. March 23, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 .
  28. ↑ George Clooney: George Clooney to Parkland students: 'You make me proud of my country again' . In: the Guardian . March 23, 2018 ( theguardian.com [accessed March 23, 2018]).
  29. ↑ Sabrina Siddiqui: Marco Rubio: Parkland survivors 'have done more in five weeks than has been done in 15 years'. March 23, 2018, accessed March 23, 2018 .
  30. ↑ Home - Born This Way Foundation. Retrieved March 24, 2018 (American English).
  31. ^ Marissa Martinelli: Taylor Swift Takes a Rare Political Stand, Voices Support for March for Our Lives and “Gun Reform” . In: Slate Magazine . ( slate.com [accessed March 24, 2018]).
  32. ↑ 'March for Our Lives' Protesters Can Get Free Rides, Food and More This Weekend. Here's the list. Retrieved March 24, 2018 .
  33. ^ President Trump tells the NRA the "eight-year assault" on gun rights is over . In: NBC News . ( nbcnews.com [accessed April 1, 2018]).
  34. ↑ Charlotte Alter: Donald Trump Says Gun-Free Zones Are 'Target Practice for Sickos'. In: Time . October 28, 2015.
  35. ↑ "If the people had carried weapons, it would have been different" In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . 15th November 2015.
  36. ^ NRA - National Rifle Association of America. Retrieved March 25, 2018 .
  37. ↑ msnbc.com, March 28, 2018: More advertisers flee Ingraham as David Hogg rejects her apology (March 30, 2018)
  38. ^ Daniel Victor: Advertisers Drop Laura Ingraham After She Taunts Parkland Survivor David Hogg . In: The New York Times . March 29, 2018, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  39. ↑ Amy B. Wang, Allyson Chiu, Tracy Jan: Facing boycott, Laura Ingraham apologizes for taunting Parkland teen over college rejections . In: Washington Post . March 29, 2018, ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  40. ↑ Laura Ingraham's advertisers distance themselves after David Hogg comments . ( cbsnews.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  41. ↑ Natural Dog Food & Cat Food | Nutrish pet food. Retrieved March 31, 2018 .
  42. ^ Laura Ingraham announces vacation amid advertiser boycott . ( cbsnews.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  43. ^ Hayley Miller: Advertisers Ditching Laura Ingraham's Show Over Attack On Parkland Survivor . In: Huffington Post . March 29, 2018 ( huffingtonpost.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  44. ↑ Advertisers flee Laura Ingraham after criticism of Parkland student . In: NBC News . ( nbcnews.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  45. ↑ Julian Dörr: Parkland Survivor Forces Advertisers to Boycott Fox News . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2018, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed April 1, 2018]).
  46. ^ Theresa Waldrop, CNN: A day after March for Our Lives, Pope urges youth to speak out . In: CNN . ( cnn.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  47. ↑ Pope Francis says young people should raise their voices in Palm Sunday address . ( cbsnews.com [accessed March 31, 2018]).
  48. ↑ March for our lives - Hundreds of thousands demonstrate against weapons . In: Deutschlandfunk . ( deutschlandfunk.de [accessed on March 25, 2018]).
  49. ↑ Restricting US Gun Law: Trump Administration Bans "Bump Stocks". www.n-tv.de, March 24, 2018, accessed on March 24, 2018 .
  50. ↑ Girlfriend of the perpetrator should clarify the motive: Investigators hope for clarification orf.at, October 4, 2017, accessed October 4, 2017.
  51. ↑ Gunmen injured significantly more people than previously known. In: Zeit Online , January 21, 2018 (see also the preliminary final report here ).
  52. ↑ kidsrights.org