Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 21, 2018)
March 21, 2018 Page 5 ‘It’s Our Place to Speak Out’ A generation tormented by gun violence comes of age and vote. Support the young activ- ists in your community because by L auren m aLand zanne Bonamici who is a member a movement against gun violence. at the end of the day this issue is I was only a year old when the of Congress from Washington Start conversations, ask questions, not just about politics or guns, it mass shooting at Columbine High County, writing on a #Enough educate yourself on local politics, is about students feeling safe in School in Colorado banner, and suggest- rocked the United ing topics for a follow States in 1999. Since up forum on gun vio- then, 215 shoot- lence that will occur ings have occurred at Pacific on April on school campus- 10. Pacific’s Young es across the county Democrats brought alone. Countless other computers along to acts of gun violence help inspired students have been committed register to vote, a vi- in places of worship, Lauren Maland tal way we can hope at concerts, and on our to make our voices be streets, including police officer in- heard in the political sphere. volved shootings. A crucial part of the Pacific To say that my generation, walk out came when speakers re- whatever you may call us, has no minded students why they were place in discussing gun violence there and in a call for unity asked is ludicrous. We are the kids who that their message not to be divid- spent every year at school prac- ed by politics. ticing intruder drills alongside Katie Lightcap, the student natural disaster drills. We are the senate president, reflected on her kids whose parents, out of the experience in high school in 2015 fear of gun violence, would hug when she was at Roseburg High us a little tighter before dropping School fearing for her safety be- Photo by t anner b oyLe /P aCiFiC u niversity student Pacific University students file out of classes and move toward the center of the university’s Forest Grove campus to attend a rally and speak out against gun violence in solidarity with nationwide student protests March 14 on the one month anniversary of the mass shooting that killed 17 at a high school in Parkland, Fla. us off at school, something we wouldn’t understand till we were old enough to know the truth. To know that being at school was not enough to keep us safe. My thoughts turned to feel- ings of sadness, anger and fear on the morning of March 14 when I joined my classmates to say “enough is enough,” #enoughise- nough, attending a rally in solidar- ity with nationwide student pro- tests against gun violence. At 10 a.m. that day, Pacific University joined schools across the country in a walk out to signify that the students of this country will not sit by and continue to allow acts of violence to be perpetrated in our schools without action. Pacific’s walkout was orga- nized by our undergraduate Stu- dent Senate and included several opportunities for students to let their voice be heard. This includ- ed writing letters to U.S Rep. Su- cause of a mass shooting that hap- pened on the same day at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg. Pacific sociology professor Jaye Cee Whitehead spoke on the com- plexities and intersectionality of gun violence, and urged students to demand an education without fear of gun violence. Rev. Chuck Currie, the director of Pacific’s Center for the Peace and Spiri- tuality and an assistant professor of religious studies, finished the programming by reminding stu- dents that we have the power to make change and that we should demand real solutions from our government. There was an atmosphere of heavy hearts throughout the walk out, but the rally ended with stu- dents having a better sense that they can and will create change. We cannot let this issue become yesterday’s news. Every day you can do something to contribute to school. Lauren Maland is a criminal justice and applied theater major and member of the Class of 2020 at Pacific University.
