Emma González's Powerful March Silence
In a little over six minutes, 17 lives were taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14.
Emma González, an activist and student at the high school, cited that number as she delivered the final speech at Saturday's March For Our Lives in Washington, where the estimated attendance was 500,000 participants. González, a survivor of the shooting, helped organize the march.
"Everyone who has been touched by the cold drip of gun violence, understands," she told a crowd, chanting "Never Again" and "This Is What Democracy Looks Like!"
Then, she named all 17 of her classmates who were killed. After the last name, "Meadow Pollack," Emma grew silent. The crowd, previously chanting and cheering her on, followed suit.
Emma González stayed silent for a total of 6 minutes and 20 seconds - the exact same amount of time it took her friends to lose their lives on February 14, 2018.
“Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job," she said.
.@Emma4Change spent a powerful 6 minutes and 20 seconds on stage to close out #MarchForOurLives, the same amount of time it took her friends to lose their lives on February 14th. pic.twitter.com/jKSsEKp4Oc
- Cheddar (@cheddar) March 24, 2018
After her incredibly powerful speech and moment of silence, González was greeted backstage by fellow student speakers, like Chicago native Alex King, who spoke with Seventeen prior to the march about the gun violence members of his community face every day. They embraced each other with tears in their eyes.
The two have become close ever since King flew down to Parkland after the shooting to meet with González about gun reform activism.
“We shared our traumatic stories and how we both dealt with trauma and pain from different kinds of gun violence," King told Seventeen. "Gun violence is everywhere. We've both been through it, and after the [march] in D.C., we really just encourage people to go out there and vote."
After the March, González and her fellow student-speakers took the March stage.
"It's up to us to stop it!" shouted González.
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