WASHINGTON (WSVN) — A group of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students spoke at a #NeverAgain rally in Washington, D.C., Thursday.
The group addressed students at Thurgood Marshall Academy, urging them to come together and make their voices heard.
“We together as Americans, regardless of whether or not you’ve been affected, regardless of what your race is, regardless of your ethnicity or religion, we must stand up together as a unified front as Americans and fight for change ’cause no one else will,” said Stoneman Douglas student David Hogg.
The group expressed their disappointment at the lack of action from some politicians, saying it’s the youth who need to push for gun reform in the wake of the Parkland school tragedy.
“There’s no running away from us,” said Stoneman Douglas student Cameron Kasky. “We are the youth, we are the students, we are the ones who are being educated. Now it’s time for them to get educated by us.”
“I keep getting asked, ‘Why do you think the other side doesn’t understand these issues?'” said Stoneman Douglas student Alfonso Calderon. “The honest answer is: They don’t live through them.”
“It’s not about the adults. It’s the kids because we are the future,” said Stoneman Douglas student Alex Wind. “If they’re not gonna make the change, then we’re gonna have to go up there and do it ourselves.”
Nearly one million people are expected to come out for Saturday’s March For Our Lives in D.C., with more than 800 sister marches taking place from California to Japan.
The teens have been pulling all-nighters, scheduling speakers, petitioning city councils, renting stages and walking march routes with police in a grassroots movement that has raised more than $4 million.
“This Saturday, we have an opportunity. It’s an opportunity like none ever before,” said Calderon. “The amount of people that are gonna show up is something unprecedented.”
“This is not about Parkland. This is about the world. This is about the country,” said Wind, “because bullets do not discriminate.”
Students will walk down Pennsylvania Avenue during Saturday’s march, alongside pop stars Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato.
Organizers have requested 14 Jumbotrons, 2,000 chairs and 2,000 public restrooms.
The March For Our Lives rally begins at 12 p.m. on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the April 2 cover of Time magazine features five of the most outspoken Parkland shooting survivors: Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Alex Wind and Jaclyn Corin. The headline reads, “Enough.”
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