Javier Sierra
All photos by Sierra Club associate communications director Javier Sierra.
Last Saturday, March 24, the Sierra Club mobilized its 3 million members and supporters to attend March for Our Lives rallies across the country. As reported in the New York Times, more than 800 protests took place in every American state and on every continent except Antarctica. According to The Hill, the number of participants was likely "much higher than a million."
"The March for Our Lives, led by powerful young people from across the country, offers us hope for a future without gun violence," says Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune. "No one should live in fear of never coming home every time they go to school, to church, to the movies, or just for a walk in their neighborhood. But that is the everyday reality for many, particularly young people who have never known a world without mass school shootings.
"The Sierra Club is proud to follow the leadership of these students and join marchers across the country because we are committed to protecting and preserving the human and natural environment. Sierra Club members are impacted by gun violence every day, from mass shootings to police violence. How can we explore, enjoy and protect the planet if we aren’t even safe in our own communities? I'm thankful that these students are leading the way to a safer future for all with their powerful organizing.”
Sierra Student Coalition director Karissa Gerhke was among the hundreds of thousands who marched in Washington, D.C. "Gun violence has taken a stunning toll in classrooms and neighborhoods in every community in our nation," Gerhke says. "Students are tired of the status quo and they’re ready to take our country back from the corporations profiting from violence and destruction. From the NRA to Big Oil, corporate interests value their bottom line more than the health and safety of America’s youth. The Sierra Student Coalition applauds the student organizers of March for Our Lives for leading the way to a safer future, and we are proud to join this march for a future free of gun violence."
[Read a Spanish-language of this post.]
All photos that follow by Javier Sierra.
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