“It was around noontime when all of our pages went off and we were notified that a mass shooting had occurred in Sutherland Springs, Texas,” recalls Dr. Lillian Liao, a pediatric trauma surgeon and medical director at University Hospital in San Antonio. Moments earlier, 26-year-old gunman Devin Patrick
Those darn kids are at it again. It’s not enough that they just pulled off one of the largest protests in the history of the country. Now they want to follow that up with direct engagement with legislators? What’s HAPPENING?!!!!!
As noweasels pointed out Sunday, the student organizers are now calling for nationwide town halls with our congress critters on Saturday April 7th to engage them directly and get them on the post-march record regarding solutions to gun violence. (To get you up to speed: our country sucks when it comes to gun violence—38,000 deaths a year—and nothing’s being done about it.) Which brings me to this week’s organization in our Energize An Ally spotlight. I wasn’t aware of Town Hall Project before. What a great concept…
Town Hall Project empowers constituents across the country to have face-to-face conversations with their elected representatives.We are campaign veterans and first time volunteers. We come from a diversity of backgrounds and live across the country. We share progressive values and believe strongly in civic engagement.
We research every district and state for public events with members of Congress. Then we share our findings to promote participation in the democratic process.
This movement is diverse, open source, and powered by citizens.
They’re also fast. As soon as they heard about the students’ “Town Hall for Our Lives” plan, they went to work and posted a step-by-step guide to organizing a successful town hall meeting, including how to embarrass a congress member who refuses to show up. They even keep a list of those who haven’t shown up for a single one during this legislative session.
“You have more power than you think. Town halls are one of the most effective ways to use it. Remember: you are their boss.”
John (left) and Sean (right), two students of Florida State University, hold up homemade signs protesting gun violence. On the left, the sign adopts a diagnostic frame, acknowledging that the AR-15 was the designated weapon used for mass murders. The sign on the right is calling out the enablers who are responsible for knocking down legislation to reduce gun violence.
A young woman proudly protests in front of the capital with a sign reading “#NEVERAGAIN” – a hashtag that has been flooding social media platforms following the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting on February 14th. Hashtags help flag attention, become mantras for movements, and help frame the identities and emotions of social movements.
- John
and if you’re able to, go to a march. you don’t have to stay long, five minutes is enough. you don’t need a sign. or a shirt. you just need your voice. we are being slaughtered in our schools and politicians don’t care. please help save us. god if you can’t get to a march, just walk out on your driveway! tweet a video for that! make you fucking voices heard before it’s you or it’s me or it’s someone else being struck by a bullet
I designed this poster to use at my local March For Our Lives event, but I’m uploading it in case anyone else wants to print it out and use it.
Feel free!
