WASHINGTON — Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall Saturday in a call to action, for stricter gun laws.
The March for Our Lives rally was created by survivors to protest against gun violence and demand accountability from lawmakers. One of the D.C. organizers, also a gun violence survivor himself, expressed concerns about local leaders and how a four-letter word can be a solution.
"When I spoke to Mayor Bowser two years ago about creating safer spaces for Black children and people in our city, she told me she would handle it," said 20-year-old RuQuan Brown. "If that were true, I wouldn't be on this stage."
Brown, a 20-year-old Harvard student and D.C.high school graduate, lost his high school teammate and his stepfather to gun violence in the District. He and his fellow MFOL organizers are calling for universal background checks, more red flag laws and a ban on assault rifles. Brown was introduced at the rally by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, but he had no qualms calling out what he cited as leadership failures.
"Since our elected officials are ignorant, broken and irresponsible, I've been left with no other choice but to explore and discover what it will take to keep me, my 10 siblings, my future children you and yours safe," Brown said.
The mayor had her own choice words and call to action.
"We're done asking -- were demanding change," Bowser said. "We need our fellow Americans, a majority of Americans who share our values, to let their senators know that they need either need to make change now, or get out of our way.
Brown said sacred experiences -- like education, vacation, career, and politics-- need to be safe spaces, but said that won't happen without a four-letter word that he believes could be a solution to end gun violence: love.
"Love is a combination of care, commitment, knowledge, responsibility, respect and trust," Brown said. "Many of our politicians approached stages with only one of those ingredients. We are demanding that our politicians love, and that requires all six of those ingredients. We must live in a nation where love is the norm.But our politicians are committed to a paycheck."
To this day, Brown said he has unanswered questions as to why his stepfather was murdered in 2018, why his teammate was murdered in 2017, and why his friends and family in his neighborhood have been murdered. He advocates as a community to use more love, in the hopes the children in this world can safely be a manifestation of the dreams of generations before them.
March For Our Lives | Rally for gun reform after surge in mass shootings
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