An Open Letter for Change
Lit Up — February’s Prompt: Letters
Dear Student in Florida and everywhere,
Do not let the NRA, Trump, or anyone else blame or belittle you, or quiet your voices. You are wise beyond your years, we admire your resolve and bravery, and we will do the one and only thing that your age still prevents you from doing: vote. We will vote for officials who will put your safety above NRA donations. We will vote for officials who believe that assault weapons have no place in our schools or our streets. We will vote for the type of leaders you deserve; the type of leaders that you, at your young age, are already becoming.
I know you must be devastated by the seeming callousness of our President and Congress. I certainly am. But we have to remember that, while they seem to leave you without a choice and without a voice, your voices will not go unheard. Decades ago, young people like yourselves stood up for equality: first for gender, then race, then sexual orientation, and each time, change came. Voices are like an avalanche: they gather force exponentially.
You have taken your cues from Dr. King, from the protests of the sixties, from the marches for peace and against the Vietnam War, from the right to every man and woman to marry the person they love. It’s trite to say “one man, or woman can make a difference”, but it’s true. We can give our support, our time, and donations to committees like Moms Demand and Everytown that fight for gun safety legislation. We can give our support, our time, and donations to the ACLU, to Safe Horizon (which protects victims of abuse), and to the hundreds of other organizations that, regardless of who is in the White House or Congress, stand up for the marginalized and the oppressed.
I draw an analogy to the response the President’s campaign against immigrants. It is horrifying that a man ran on a platform of “our country will be great again if we rid if group X”, and won. The world has seen that before, and it did not end well. But we are NOT Nazi Germany, and, as evidenced by the protests, and as evidenced by the popular vote, as evidenced by the scores of people who raise their voices in opposition. There are enough people willing to stand up against hate, that women, Muslims, immigrants, Jews, the LBGQT community, and you, will never be without protection, not if we stand with them. The same is true of the fight for gun safety legislation. There will be people who seek to shout you down. They will cling to the old ways. But you are the voice of tomorrow, and I will speak with you.
People once said that women and minorities should never and would never be given the right to vote. In your lifetime, people said same sex couples should be denied the right to marry. Young people like you stood up and said “No! We deserve a better world”, and when the opponents of change refused to listen, you pushed for leaders who would. You will do the same now. We will do the same to fight for change as many have successfully done before. We stand with you, and will vote to give you the leaders and future you deserve.
