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School shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School - Parkland, FL

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

The group of teens who survived last month’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School continuously show up adults on the way our government should be responding to gun violence. This past weekend, their latest form of activism included something everyone needs to follow — allyship.

On Saturday, students from Parkland, Fla. got together over pizza with students in Chicago to talk about gun violence. Emma González, who has been a leading voice in the movement tweeted pictures from the event. Her mission is to raise the voices and narratives of those living in the cities most affected by gun violence.

“Those who face gun violence on a level that we have only just glimpsed from our gated communities have never had their voices heard in their entire lives the way that we have in these last few weeks alone,” González tweeted.

Many outlets have been critical of the positive reception that the March For Our Lives has gotten due to the fact that it’s led by mostly white children from an affluent area, with little to no children of color. Figures such as Oprah have publicly offered support and funding to the cause while many similar efforts to protect Black lives have gone ignored. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the surge of gun violence has taken a massive toll on Black children, with the annual firearm homicide rate ten times higher for them than for white and Asian American children.

“The platform us Parkland Students have established is to be shared with every person, Black or white, gay or straight, religious or not, who has experienced gun violence, and hand in hand, side by side, We Will Make This Change Together,” she continued.

As Parkland students exercise an outstanding display of allyship with young people across the country, one can only hope that adults get the hint soon, too.

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