Time magazine had a large array of candidates for its prestigious “Person of the Year” designation in 2018. Their choice was “The Guardians and the War on Truth,” including murdered and imprisoned journalists around the world who are dedicating their lives to expose the truth among the atrocities perpetrated by dictatorial regimes.
Time chose wisely by highlighting the courageous truth tellers, and by so doing, shined further light on the brutality. And while I fully support Time’s decision, throughout the year I was hoping to see the young activists of the newly emerging #NeverAgain firearms safety movement under the banner headline “Persons of the Year.”
The people in the government who were voted into power are lying to us. And us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and our parents to call BS. Companies trying to make caricatures of the teenagers these days, saying that all we are self-involved and trend-obsessed, and they hush us into submission when our message doesn’t reach the ears of the nation, we are prepared to call BS.
Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, excited the crowd at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale just four days after a gunman plowed down students and faculty with an AR-15 semiautomatic assault rifle killing 17 and injuring another 15 precious souls.
Through her voice, her passion, her outrage, and her deep commitment, Emma and her peers poured cleansing waters into an ever-increasing reservoir representing a movement that has long been filling in our country to wash away the deeply entrenched stain of gun violence.
It is a movement declaring that people are worth far more than corporate profits and political payoffs. It is a movement demanding that common-sense measures be taken to finally begin to end the scourge that is gun violence in the United States of America. It is a movement proclaiming clearly and forcefully that condolences and prayers are simply not enough, and most importantly that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Emma continued:
Politicians who sit in their gilded House and Senate seats funded by the NRA telling us nothing could have been done to prevent this, we call BS. They say tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS. They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun. We call BS. They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars. We call BS.
Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free
While I’m usually the last to use sports metaphors since I know so little about sports and care even less, I find it apt to assert that the new and dynamic youth-led gun safety movement, #NeverAgain, has pushed the National Rifle Association’s leadership onto the ropes.
Recently, as challenges to the power of the NRA have increased through the youth organized #NeverAgain movement, some private companies have decided to suspend sponsorship of these discounts. Such companies include First National Bank of Omaha, and Enterprise Holdings, with its car rental subsidiaries Enterprise, Alamo, and National.
The United States stands at the cusp of great social change, led by strong and articulate young people who are cutting through the BS of longtime and large-scale entrenchment holding in place a system catering to the rich and the well positioned.
Black Lives Matter and professional athletes sparked by the courageous actions of NFL star Colin Kaepernick are challenging institutional racism.
Women are pouring out into the streets and onto the ballots to break the logjam blocking their entry into the ranks of key policy makers.
The #MeToo and #Time’sUp Movements are standing up and demanding an end to sexual harassment and gender inequality.
Disability Rights activists are sitting in and acting up to ensure quality health care for all and the security of benefits for all who require them to maintain a high quality of life.
LGBTQ people and their allies continue to push for full equality and the freedom to enter public facilities most closely aligning with people’s gender identities.
Labor activists are demanding a realignment of the nation’s economic priorities overwhelmingly and increasingly separating the haves from the rest of us.
Environmental activists are fighting to protect the planet and all living things from ultimate annihilation from human-caused climate change by demanding an end to the use of fossil fuels and increased dependence on clean and sustainable energy sources.
It takes courage to speak out and counter the violence, the scapegoating, the fear and resistance to change, and the ignorance, and yes, the hatred surrounding our lives. Fortunately, young people are developing positive identities at earlier ages than ever before. Activists of all ages are gaining selective electoral, legislative, and judicial victories.
Emma said:
They say no laws could have prevented the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred. We call BS. That us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works. We call BS.
Young people have been integral in the development and success of social movements from the very beginning, and today, they are shaking up norms and traditions as have youth from the past.
We must stand with the courageous, intelligent, and articulate young people of the #NeverAgain movement for gun safety who are poised to save our country from itself! They are taking literally Albert Einstein’s warning that:
We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.
◊♦◊
Are you a first-time contributor to The Good Men Project? Submit here:
◊♦◊
If you believe in the work we are doing here at The Good Men Project, please join us as a Premium Member, today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all-access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class, and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group, and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock