You are not my future. We are each other's present. Respect for you all.
5
Emma Gonzales. You are absolutely brilliant! I have used your speech in my English class in the far away land of high taxes and zero school shootings; Denmark.
Gun control is a no-brainer. Owning semi-automatic weapons is not a sign of freedom, but a sign of a derailed, uncritical belief in ideals that made sense more than 200 years ago in completely different historical circumstances.
My country is by no means perfect, and we are not better than the USA - but I never have to worry about sending my two kids to school. In fact, the only recorded school shooting in Denmark took place at Aarhus University in 1994. Two students, and the perpetrator died. Truly tragic, but also almost 25 years ago!
Actually I can't remember ever seing a gun in any house I have visited in Denmark. If nobody owns guns, you don't need guns to defend yourself.
Just trying to say... Keep making sense, Emma Gonzales. :-)
21
Emma, please grow up to be President!
16
Thank you dear Emma. There’s a Senate seat opening up in Maine in 2020- I think you would like Portland. And we have like almost 4M to get things rollin’...
16
How can anyone not listen to her experience? It is really not just Emma's opinion here, or her politics. The train of her life was thrown off its tracks, and just now, the train is finding its focus. My daughter, 19, will vote; my 16-yr old despairs that she cannot vote. To all young people... please keep in mind that voting takes very little time. You vote your beliefs, but you do it for your entire country.
11
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I am going to have a good cry now.
10
Keep it up. The movement is not over. People should bury their weapons just like the Chinese buried their instruments in the cultural revolution. For people your age I suggest studying 'en loco parentis'; which, is part of the fourth amendment. For school logos, study the 24th amendment. Schools should not be policed. For more go to... atmydevice com / privacy-record
1
@ Emma
I am a Puerto Rican artist living in Canada (http://www.atelier-rc.com/Political.html) and I can think of no better time to have become a Canadian citizen than now. On 16 March I became one – by choice, not imperial imposition.
1-“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction.”
~DIETRICH BONHOEFFER
(1906 - 1945)
German Lutheran pastor, theologian, anti-Nazi dissident
2-“If you ever find yourself in the wrong story, leave.”
~ MO WILLEMS
Author of children's books, animator.
3-"Exile is my power!"
~ GOLSHIFTEH FARAHANI
Iranian actress, model, musician and singer living in Paris.
4-"Activism is my rent for living on the planet."
~ ALICE WALKER
Novelist, short story writer, poet; author of The Color Purple
Thank you. Maybe The Times will give you a regular spot as a 'Youth' Op-Ed Columnist.
• For what seemed like the first time, adults were treating me and my peers as though they cared about what we had to say.
Your writing is as spirited as your speech. You are perceptive, strong-willed and determined; someone of conviction born of personal experience and a baptism of fire. Your honesty is disarming.
Proud you’re Hispanic. Proudest if you’re ancestry is Puerto Rican as you seem to imply (• Puerto Rico has been abandoned).
You are part of HISTORY!
Wishing you great success in your every venture,
~ RC
16
Emma your courage and character are a gift to all of us who still believe in the importance of fighting for human decency and the power of love. I'm old enough to be your grandmother. At your age in the 1960s I marched for civil rights and peace and am still marching. Our country has lost its way but you and your friends give me hope for a better future that I may not live to see but my darling nieces and nephews and their precious children will, thanks to your and your fellow justice warriors. Take good care and stay strong, dear Emma. You are not alone.
10
Out Of The Ashes Arose The Phoenix
I feel like I'm holding all this up on my own
If I fall
So will the rest
I have to stay strong
Keep holding on
But then I remember
Out of the dust
Out of the ashes
Arose the phoenix
Ingulfed in the burning fire
And destroyed
But reborn as a child
To grow and love
Once again
Am I to be destroyed to fully live again?
Am I like the phoenix?
It’s a lot to put on an 18 year olds shoulders, but you will make a difference. Thank you.
2
Thank you, Emma. When you’re exhausted and need to take a break to take care of yourself, know that you’ve inspired millions of others who are there to help you lift the load, and shoulder our part of the burden. We are here for you and with you when you walk, talk, scream, cry, march, and live your passions out loud. We are also here for you when you choose to be silent. Through our collective actions, we will support each other and right this nation’s wrongs. As long as it takes, we will get it done. Together.
7
Thank you for standing up, working tirelessly and giving voice to our fears, our hopes, our own courage. You help so many of us, your supporters, to see, to hear, and to read the words that tell the world, we are not going to continue to accept what is happening. Guns, and gun control need to be legislated out of the hands of criminals, angry people , sick people, children, and any of us who do not need them!
You are brave and you are a role model to me, a retired teacher, to my daughter, a physician, and to my sweet little grand daughters who are too young to know what is happening in our country today.
Thank you again and again!
7
Thank you Emma for your courage, determination and resilience all interwoven with grace and equanimity beyond your years. We are with you! March on!
8
Thank you, Emma. Just thank you. For all you are doing and saying and writing. Our future as a nation depends on you and your generation, and you are showing us all that we are in capable hands. Thank you.
8
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Emma González. I am so, so sorry for the friends you have lost, for all the pain you have endured, so sorry that your generation is shouldering this burden. Your words have brought many people out of their stupors--to understand that as a country we HAVE to do something about guns. Other countries have taken on this problem and solved it, and we can, too, but only if we have the right people making laws. Vote as though everything depends upon it--because it does.
9
Thank you, Emma, for this article. It is an inspiration for those of us who have become so worn down or distracted by other news.
Please keep speaking up and speaking your truth.
7
My brother-in-law teaches at MSD, I was in Israel that day where I arrived to walk my daughter down the aisle on February 21. I called my sister (also a teacher) the minute I saw my friends in Boca Raton on FB writing about a shooting. My sister was waiting to hear from her husband who was eventually evacuated with students from the second building. Emma Gonzalez and her fellow activists are the only hope this country has. How terribly the adults in power have let them down! Those who are supposed to protect them and this country have been betrayed by the power hungry. Where are our democratic ideals? Please Emma, continue to pursue what you think is right, because you can’t rely on our Government as it is now.
109
Whether intentionally or not, this article shows precisely why the left is going nowhere and why Trump and his like are winning.
3
Elaborate please!
6
Thank you for taking your pain and turning it into action.
Im so sorry you have to be the adult in the room whilst our government continues this dog and pony show.
Your thre leaders of tomorrow. I have trust in thre youth that thre insanity of this generation may heal.
3
You are such a hero and inspiration!!
6
Whatever happened to a girl being proudly described as a “ heroine” ? Why this male hero nonsense? Same with actress vs a female actor. Server vs waitress or waiter....why, sigh.
1
Thank you. So much. Keep it up. I just registered to vote.
5
Hmmmm. Inspiring. I find myself thinking about shaving my head. It would be easy. Pretty cheap, too. What if we ALL did the same? (All who favor gun control.) What if "skinhead" meant "gun control advocate"? What if we all did it? What if all the fancy hair salons and all the fancy, not-so-fancy, and not-at-all-fancy barbershops had their bottom lines threatened by "Emma Gonzalez cuts" from sea to shining sea? To be sure, that wouldn't be the point. Still, to improve business they might be persuaded help push for common-sense gun control. A shift toward inter-party cooperation at the national level will have to start with a commitment to common sense -- to something that isn't in the interests of one tribe alone. Common-sense gun control is an excellent place to start. So, "Emma Gonzalez cuts" may be just about the single most patriotic step any of us could take.
1
"People say, “I don’t play the politics game, I don’t pay attention to politics” — well, the environment is getting poisoned, families are getting pulled apart and deported, prisons are privatized, real-life Nazis live happily among us...."
And every day that above list gets longer.
We have seen what happens when people DON'T get involved in politics. The only people who are going to work to change the horror of these past two years are each and every one of us.
Don't care? Well, then you'll be responsible for letting democracy slip away.
Think it's no use? Well, some Trump supporter is going to work harder knowing that, and making sure we continue on the downward spiral we're on.
Think you can't make a difference? If everyone thinks that, no difference will be had.
It's far better to fight for what you believe in, even if you lose a few, than to suffer the results and always wonder, "what would have happened if I'd gotten involved?"
I personally believe voting should be required of all Americans and it should be a national holiday so all can do so.
Since it isn't, it takes extra effort to get oneself to the polls. But just consider what happens when you don't.
10
Thank you Emma, I will remember what you said about crying. I think I could use a good cry. Your editorial came at a good time for me. I am so sad that in the 24 years between Anita Hill and Dr Ford nothing has changed. Old white men still determine our fate, with guns and sexual assault. I hope your generation does a better job than mine did.
78
She's been remarkable and inspiring throughout all of this. She and her peers. They give me hope. But I wish I'd never heard of her or them because of the circumstances.
We are failing our children and young people. All of us. From the minute they walk through the metal detector on their first day of kindergarten.
57
• I also cry a lot. But crying is healthy and it feels good — I really don’t know why people are so against it. Maybe because it’s loud. Crying is a kind of communication, and communication is awesome. The lack of communication is what keeps us in this situation.
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.”
~ WASHINGTON IRVING
6
Hi Emma, I hope they publish this and I hope you read it.
You are very sensible to be scared of being shot. You've grown up in the United States, where I believe everyone goes through life thinking at some level that they might be shot on any given day, and I believe that really twists and warps the attitudes of Americans to their own gun laws.
I've been a student of the law surrounding the Second Amendment for most of my adult life, since I first took an interest in it at law school. Make no mistake, the modern interpretation of the Second Amendment is simply insane. It is simply insane for a citizen to believe there is a valid reason for them to be allowed to own an assault weapon, or any weapon primarily designed to kill people.
This is what most people think outside the United States. This is what they think in Australia, this is what they think in Canada, this is what they think in every civilised country on the planet. In deciding to work for sane gun laws in the United States, you need to understand that your opponents are, mainly, deeply insane - either that or they do it for the money.
The sad, grim, awful reality is that before you get sane gun laws in the United States, hundreds of thousands of people are going to be shot to death and that will include a significant number of people who are shot dead because they are fighting for sane gun laws. Courage is the ability to take action when you are scared, so I wish you courage. It can be done, but you must fight.
15
Emma for President
4
Start a new political party.
2
Not seeing where Ms. Gonzalez gives "advice" to anyone else to shave their head or cry. That's what works for her for comfort and coping. The headline of this piece feeds the trolls who don't bother with the actual content beyond the headline (e.g. "Shave your head for what? How does that help your cause.")
2
I'm with her.
8
Emma, you need to run for office! Please!
3
We love you Emma. You are great. We support 100% your efforts related to guns. We are grandparents who find very difficult to accept that a school could be a scenario where a guy with a rifle designed for war situations, can kill many children in just a few seconds.
Young Americans helped defeat Adolf Hitler, a war criminal who promised that his regime would last one thousand years. We are confident that in a few years this gun madness will end thanks to activists like you.
3
Don’t G I V E U P
You are so brave Emma.
3
Thank you.
2
Go, girl! It's people like you who make a difference in this mad and violent world. Never let go, never stop.
Your weird but beautiful country needs you.
73
Wonderful. Articulate, compassionate, profoundly meaningful. People are commenting here about Ms. Gonzalez as representing a beautiful future, and I agree. I hope she runs for office some day and soon. I'd vote for her if I were in her district. Yes--VOTE the scoundrels (i.e., all Republicans and maybe some others, too) OUT in November. I plan on doing so. We must take our country back from a tyranny of a minority that is nothing but a cult of ugly, greedy, lying personalities, with a big one horrifically at the top--for now.
8
Listen to Emma Gonzalez...then listen to the senior citizen's home that passes for the Senate and Congress in Washington.
Term limits are called for nobody but nobody should be in the Senate or Congress for 25-35 years.
6
You are an American hero. The arc is still long but eventually you and your compatriots will bend the nation toward justice. Justice for your lost friends and justice for those who will survive, thanks to your work.
5
I work in a small city that is overwhelmingly working-class white. It's one of the few places left that still has a strong union presence. The majority of the other employees are unionized although my department isn't. They talk about shooting and hunting regularly, but also have a strong pro-labor bent that made them reliable Democrats until recently.
Although the city voted for Trump by a 54-37 margin, it actually narrowly went for Obama in 2012; his margin was even wider in 2008. The very recent loss of labor support for the Democrats across the region was a major factor in Clinton's loss of most of the Midwest, costing her the election.
The most straightforward way for the Democrats to start winning again would be to win back the labor voters who only recently defected. Just returning to Obama's numbers with this sector of the population would be enough.
But there's a problem - this group is heavily pro-gun and easily swayed by NRA propaganda. Guns are a potent cultural issue. Many of these people, if they're being honest, actually would prefer a world where school shootings and other mass killings happen the way they do now, compared to a world with strict UK-style gun control.
Now if you cut through the propaganda, most still support background checks and bans for felons and the mentally ill. Many might even support some limited restrictions on assault weapons. But that's as far as it goes.
I worry that focusing on guns would be counter-productive for the Dems.
2
WHAT A GIFT this young woman is, and one we might not have known.
When I am tempted [how many times a day?] to despair, I will return to this beyond-eloquent essay. Susan Collins' ludicrous speech is echoing from the TV, and Emma Gonzales' heart is resounding in my soul.
7
Four people (four very senior people) in Canada were talking about you two days ago: wondering whereare you, what are you doing, and remembering your power. "She is the one we should be hearing about, why aren't we?" As neighbours we followed you during those awful days and months afterwards, we admired you, we cheered you and we wept with you . Please will the press give you space. Please rise again.
11
The best thing I’ve read this week. Thank you.
6
Your last paragraph moved me to tears. Thank you, thank you, thank you for taking on this heavy burden for your friends and for all of us. I admire your bravery and I hope for your continued strength.
8
I'm a grandmother desperately wishing I had a magic wand with mystical powers and the ability to repair your world with a graceful slight of hand. Alas, I do not, but I do embrace you and all you stand for with love, encouragement, and my ability to vote.
11
Beautifully written Ms Gonzalez.
6
Dear Emma,
Quite simply I love you because you are the daughter of America’s best hopes for the future. Your words are naked truth that enlighten and move forcefully through long traveled roads of untruth, they pave and rave and say, no more dark lies and propaganda. You are amazing. Keep writing and speaking, we are listening and I have cried with you when I hear you. But I have hope for a future of a new generation that may be like you or who will try to be like you. I will try to be like you, truthful and strong and I will vote for you when you run for president.
10
We grieve with you and for you Emma. Your innocence was taken from you by greed and our broken political system that won’t stand up to the NRA and protect you. You are too young to look for friends and not find them; you are a warrior to continue to fight for their justice and our safety. Your generation has the power to ignite and force change. Keep going!!!
7
18-26 YO's --- They could run the country if they just organized and voted.
6
Shouting down someone you disagree with does much more for the soul than actually showing up at the polls.
Having lived through all the Florida spectacles: Elian Gonzalez, Terry Schiavo, the 2000 election results, etc I am so proud of Emma and all the Parland survivors.
5
Emma González, you are my hero. I am a 62-year-old white woman who lives in a small town on the Northern California coast. I was a politically active 12-year-old who worked at Robert Kennedy’s Santa Clara County campaign headquarters, answering phones and walking precincts. As a high school student I volunteered at San Jose’s first recycling center, smashing and sorting cans and bottles. My first job after high school was working as the receptionist for my Congressman in Washington, D.C. I mention these things to let you know that I was once my own hero, but time has worn me down and personal difficulties have sapped my enthusiasm. I see your intelligence and fervor and am heartened. You go girl!
9
Mary Rose, we share similarities. I was 16 in June 1968, had just received my packet of campaign materials and was excited to help elect RFK. Then a bullet ended it all. I cried watching his funeral, as I did 5 years earlier when bullets ended his brother's life. I always voted but didn’t get involved in a campaign again until 2004. I left the Kerry 'victory party' at 2am, deflated, when Ohio was up for grabs. I cried when he conceded, as when Gore did in 2000. We all lay down and cry, then muster up the determination to once again stand up for what we believe is right and fair.
8
To all the people kvetching about young people not voting, here's a concept: make voting day on the weekend. That's what it is in every other civilized country. Huh. Wonder which party is against that idea.
10
Bless you, beautiful soul!
5
Thank you and your support system. Best of luck with the NRA and the gunslingers.
Also, thanks for the reason you keep your hair so short. Like your points of view, it makes perfect sense.
3
Right on Emma! I am comforted to witness such leadership and moving words. People like you and your active friends are needed now more than ever.
4
Thank you Emma. Please remain strong and courageous. The country needs you.
2
Wonderful article. Regrettable headline (which I assume Emma didn’t choose). This is about so much more than her haircut.
Regardless, so glad to see that she continues to be heard. The pattern with previous mass/school shootings has been outrage and partisan bickering that dissipated within a few news cycles. This time things might be different.
3
Reading the supportive comments on Emma Gonzales' article, I am surprised by the number of commenters who state that they are in their 60's, 70's, and 80's (I'm 76 on the cusp of 77). Are these Parkland young adults the first idealists we have seen since our parents fought fascism in the 1940's? As a Canadian, I am not a gun fetishist, but I hope that these young Parklanders can lead us all to a saner reality.
10
People in 60s, 70s are the baby boomers who fought against the Vietnam War. We haven't seen this kind of activism since the 1960s.
10
Emma is a bright light on this very dark day in America.
8
I couldn’t be prouder or more in awe of this astonishing young woman if I were her mother. Stay strong, Emma!
11
If a new cycle is to come, it will come of itself..
But I am ardently with you. Thanks!
3
And the Senate's craven vote today to maintain the good old boys' club, to dismiss women's voices, to disbelieve survivors and to trash the third branch of government, shows just how far we have slipped and how much further we have to go... today we took ten giant steps backward, as in ten decades, in how we respect more than 50% of the population.
4
And it is OK to be angry. After reading interviews with children detained in prisons (cages), seeing Trump snub our allies and hug Putin, I actually did take clippers to my hair. Not a nice shave like Emma’s, pretty funny growing out, but I looked in the mirror, raised my fist, and said “you go, Girl!” It felt GOOD.
But I am speechless and angry again, about the Supreme Court hearings.
I may be an elderly, white-haired lady, but it is time all of us spoke up. We are losing our Country and our Planet. Our Planet will survive. Humans might not. My apologies to all the generations coming after mine, for the mess we are leaving.
7
God bless you, Emma, for your bravery, for your commitment, and most of all, for getting up every single day since that horrible, horrible moment and finding your way forward. May you find better days ahead.
4
Being engaged about a life and death issue says a lot about these kids now young adults. The NRA is impervious to logic or criticism and yet is vulnerable to the appeal of the Parkland survivors, Newtown parents and countless victims of gun violence.
4
I am 76 years old. I clearly remember when the boy who sat next to me in homeroom in seventh grade didn't come back after Halloween when he and his brother played with a gun. I have fought for safe and rare use of guns all my adult life. So will you remember and fight!
4
You are so right, Emma. Crying is healthy and it is a legitimate form of communication among caring human beings. We should all be allowed and encouraged to cry when we have endured a loss or when we have been treated unfairly. Aren’t we lucky that we women are allowed to cry when life treats us badly. Just warn your male-type human friends that it doesn’t apply to them. If they cry in public they are very likely to be accused of “blubbering” or faking it.
2
Thank you, dear one. And thank you to all of your unfathomably brave friends. I knew when I first saw you speak on TV at the memorial that something profound was happening. I saw all of you speak in Washington, and could not believe how courageous you students are. Your ability, day after day, to continue to speak truth with the clearest possible voice in the face of the liars and spin-monsters, is an inspiration to us all. Your youth is your strength, your innocence and your lost innocence are your strength, your heartbreak is your strength. Stay the course. We are all behind you. Much love.
11
Bless you Emma! On this day of another huge disappointment and feelings of helplessness. How do we address greed, hatred and delusion? Well, I’ve taken your advice. I’m crying and crying and cooking and blasting Motown through the speakers and moving! As an expat I cry in grief for my lost country. Thank heavens there is you.
10
I commend this young activist for her Op-Ed and single vision for the Parkland shooting survivors, and recall similar thoughts of my own youth.
Many of this column's comments speak of our youth not voting, and when I was 18 in 1970 politics were as polarizing as today. I couldn't vote in a Presidential election until 1972 and I voted McGovern instead of Nixon. One reason: Nixon betrayed this country by extending the Vietnam War while he promised to end it as a peace with honor. Even today, I cannot hate the man; after all, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts were passed and supported by him! He and Kissinger cracked open the Bamboo Curtain of Mao Tse Tung's China. On balance of his mistrust, however, Nixon's underlying paranoia was always going to take him down.
Even today, ignorant presidential bluster overplays the 'dirty tricks' of yesteryear., with the current political arena no less poisonous than in 1970s America. Arrogance will take this current one down--just listen and watch.
Progress comes slow, doesn't it?
Even today, activism can carry a social price but the lasting redemption is self integrity with the sustaining love and care for Country. I never lost either.
Keep at it, girl, people will listen!
3
I am impressed with this young woman and her friends. They have framed this problem as a moral issue. You are either pro-NRA and their dollars/influence or you are for the protection of school age children. They have done all the heavy lifting, by now adults outside of Michael Bloomberg should be making a litmus test out of this issue for every single politician running for office. About all we here from the mainstream political parties are crickets, with even the Dems self-muzzling themselves in all but a few races. Give them a couple of years and if there aren't any changes in this area, they aren't going to be looking after the interests of their predecessors who already got theirs, they will be looking solely out for themselves.
1
Ms. Gonzalez: I have long wanted to express my admiration for what you and your fellow MSD students have done in the aftermath of what happened on that horrible day.
The eloquence and the passion that you and others who joined in this fight, amaze and inspire me. Your resilience inspires me, even as you reveal how very hard it was for all of you to remain resilient. I can only begin to imagine how, unbidden, memories of friends who lost their lives that day would flood your minds, and make you want to run for cover. (Especially when some of you were accused of being "paid" actors or advocates.)
As a 63 year old woman, the thought that a committed, dedicated and determined group of teenagers are ready and willing to take on the NRA, gives me hope that our system is not so broken that the truth cannot be heard, and listened to.
Maybe I should not inject Florida politics into your opinion piece, but I am: Yes Rick Scott, in the immediate of the horror of that day, did allow legislation limiting gun laws. But I hope that all Floridians realize that he still has at least an "A" rating with the NRA. If Florida sends him to the Senate, the NRA will have another lap dog.
Back to your eloquent piece: " . . . scream of consciousness" is an incredibly impactful use of words. If you ever run for office and I have the opportunity to vote for you, or to support you, I will.
God bless you and keep you.
6
Thank you Emma! You give me hope about our future.
4
Keep going Emma, keep pushing. As a 66 year old woman who may not be alive by the time this country comes to its senses on gun control, I beg you to keep going, Emma, and keep pushing, so that my grandchildren do not worry about sending their kids to school.
5
Now only if young people could summon the energy to vote, the same they find to queue up for latest iPhones.
Oldies will vote consistently again while youngsters whine online.
2
Emma, you’re a role model for me. In little ways: I shaved my head, too! In moderate ways: get rid of insecurity by just. Getting. Rid of. It. And in big ways: I’ve had days where I wanted a break from feeling things, too. Tonight I’m going to lay down, shed a few tears. Tomorrow I’ll get back up and keep trying.
8
Emma, please don't stop until reasonable gun control laws have been enacted. Keep speaking out, keep writing, keep marching and please, please run for office. If you run for president I will proudly vote for you. I don't want your friends and classmates to have died in vain.
4
my boyfriend worked with her dad. I knew more about Carmen than I did him. Everyone knew about her... even people who didn't know Phil knew about her.
A while back, the subject came up... there was a sort of involuntary moment of silence. One person had heard of Carmen, knew that she was the daughter of someone at work, but had no idea who her parent was. Her positivity made her practically famous; people who live on the opposite side of the country knew who she was, even if they didn't know her dad...
I don't know a ton about her... or the family... but I wanted everyone to know this facet of her. Her positivity was infectious... and she's missed all over the country.
5
Oh to be young again. Thanks Emma. We all needed to hear from you and others like you. Wonderful essay.
4
Thank you, Emma, for all you have said and done on behalf of the fallen victims (not just your Parkland classmates but so many, many more--Pulse, Las Vegas, Colorado, Charleston, Virginia Tech, Littleton, Columbine, Thurston, etc etc etc--and the daily shootings occurring throughout the country between gang members, in neighborhoods, in homes, in malls, in public spaces--and the weary survivors (all of us).
As a DV survivor of an abuser who ultimately murdered two others publicly with a shotgun, I can truly feel all the dimensions of your pain.
As a political activist nearing age 70, I am very very weary, burned out and often feel hopeless. Thank you for carrying this torch for our country.
P.S. Planned to shave head last winter but don't have proper electric cutter! Afraid I'd bungle it so cut it short and died it blue for the BLUE WAVE coming soon!
8
Oh, Emma, my heart hurts for you and your friends. Have courage. Many are with you and for you. We can't know fully your experiences or feelings or traumas but we can do our best to help you and your cause. We send our strength, and respect, and our love.
11
Emma -
You are an amazing human being. I am so grateful you are here in our nation right now, with your passion and intelligence, but I wish I had never had reason to learn your name.
12
What a brave, intelligent, strong, kind, loving, and beautiful young woman. Continue to be strong like a tree. We need you and more people like you to stand for change. The type of change that will make more people ‘woke’. I love you, my heart is with you, and I have faith that people like you will help to make living in America one of the greatest places to be. Stay strong...WE NEED YOU!
9
Emma gives me hope for the future. I am 74 years old and I've lived through a lot of changes, many of them disheartening, and I'm feeling that my place now is to back off and let the young folks take over. With Emma and people like her coming along, I have hope that they will do a better job than we have done.
15
Emma, the list of ills you catalog continues to grow. It grew again today. Beyond grief and frustration, the only option is to work to overcome. You continue to inspire us to that work.
13
I myself plan to comb my hair (what's left of it), put on a pleasant expression and go vote for those who will attempt to preserve all of our civil rights, including that of adequate self-defense by means of defensive weapons.
3
@hml: In what way are you not being adequately defended by the police force in your town? Perhaps you need to discuss your fears with the mayor and the police chief. After all, they are the ones charged with protecting the public, precisely so that we don't have to resort to absurd "self-defense" measures.
“Looking for friends and not finding them.”
I’m so sorry.
One of the reasons your words are so powerful is that some of us read them and see ourselves. Unfortunately, not enough of us.
10
In a meeting of teachers just today, your names came up, the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas students who organized and marched and traveled all summer, who approached others with calm voices to bridge the divide. We are in awe of you and of the parents and teachers who guided you as you grew and who supported you as you turned to the world with grace and called us out for letting the guns get out of control. We want to be those teachers who gave you such powerful voices and we want to put an arm around your parents.
Your persistence has reminded us that there is serious work to do and that you need the time to learn more and to hone your already impressive skills and to heal.
You are a gift to us, a little spark of hope in the maelstrom.
Thank you.
14
I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry my generation (I'm 52) became apathetic and didn't care or thought the proliferation of semi-automatic firearms and mass shootings was ok. I never did, but too many of people now middle aged did. Too many people starting with Bill Clinton's election in 1992 didn't think the rightwing and Christian fundamentalist takeover of politics would be something we'd lose control of. We thought, reason will ultimately prevail. Now we have the Lockdown Generation, of which my 15 year-old daughter is part.
I'm sorry for your pain and your wish to not have human consciousness. I suspect you were wise and sharp before the massacre at your school, before it became an indelible part of your life, which it never, ever should have. I wish I could make it all not just better, but good again. I'll try to do whatever I can to stop the epidemic of gun violence with you. You and my daughter and your children/your friends' children need a safe, caring country and we don't have that now.
21
Thank you and please keep going.
Your strength and grace are a light in the darkness that has taken too much control of this country. If you and your friends are ever in L.A. - you have an ally here. My humble home is open to you all. I'd be happy to cook you all a meal and since I'm a director and producer, we can create a video too. I support your bravery, your vulnerability, and incredible intelligence. Thank you and please keep going.
8
Today so many are frustrated with politics amidst events with the SCOTUS nomination process (as am I). I hear many complaining, wanting to “yell”, thinking this will change things. It doesn’t!
Many in power believe they have the right to control our country, our world and when we just complain, they do have our power.
But you have it right! We are not powerless but it takes being committed to be involved in the solution. A democracy of the people for the people only works when we demand it with our actions.
Thank you for your authentic portrayal of grief but even more, thank you and the entire March for our Lives team for your activism.
14
I am very impressed that a young woman launches an individual rebellion against the tyranny of hair and has the courage to adopt a practical individual solution. As a man with thin curly hair, I was pretty much spared this tyranny by being ineligible for it; since it had no chance of growing into anything even remotely approaching magnificence, I just had to keep it trimmed short or look disreputable.
6
Seriously... shaving her head is the only thing you took away from this?
Many millions of Americans say that they don´t pay any attention to politics. It´s true, they don´t, but that´s only half the story. The other half is that politics pays attention to them, unfailingly, day and night, no time off for holidays. And it´s usually the case that while they are busy not paying attention to politics, politics does them dirt.
Thank you, Ms. González, for paying attention. Thank you for your example.
20
EMMA FOR PRESIDENT!!!
14
Emma, you and your fellow activists are making a difference. Every person who has been inspired to vote will do so because you and your colleagues have made your voices heard loud and clear -- voting matters. My parents always stressed how important it was to have the courage of our convictions and you your fellow activists have certainly demonstrated courage.
14
This girl is still around? Enough anger and head shaving....
Shave your head for what? How does that help your cause.
It’s time to move on with life and leave the anger behind.
Not impressed.
2
She has moved on and is channeling her anger into activism. I am very impressed.
41
I disagree with much of what Emma advocates for—increased gun control. But she has every right to advocate for her positions—regardless of the outcome of her efforts in legislative bodies and the courts. And I have every right to oppose her, and use every legal means to seek to stop, stymie, and frustrate her goals. This adversarial system of testing ideas in a constitutional republic is the key feature of the political system of America. It is at the very core of our system.
2
I’ll admit I didn’t need the info about her hair but if that’s your big take away, sad. This young woman is a survivor of a horrific tragedy. I doubt she cares whether you’re impressed or not.
3
sweetheart
2
Emma, please convince your peers to VOTE.
23
Emma Gonzalez, millions are proud of you and stand with you @
23
Nearly half of adult Americans don't vote period. This even more than Trump, or the Republican Party, or the NRA is the real scandal of America. When you don't care about other people and their lives, you won't care if they live or die. You won't care if they have health care let alone a country worth being proud of. Not caring about basic things is what led to the Parkland massacre. Emma Gonzalez is now "woke". She gets it. How many more massacres will our nation have to endure before actual adults get it?
86
Voting is a civic responsibility but so many (intentional) barriers against the franchise exist. People don't vote for many reasons.
Logistically, Election Day is not a holiday nor is it easy for many people to afford enough time off to vote. In many states, election stations are poorly manned or not open long enough. The queue can be long & people can wait hours foregoing food, hygiene & income to vote. Certainly, calculated moves to prevent people from voting by playing up very minor or unlikely issues further adds to low turnout. In most democracies, a citizen (or legal resident in places like the UK, Canada, Ireland) is assumed to have the right to vote unless otherwise specified. In the U.S., it's the opposite.
The worse crisis is inspirational. Many people conclude that their vote doesn't matter. Even when people vote for something or someone in the majority, other processes negates their franchise. People conclude that Democrats are corrupt & Republicans are cruel; they believe that their interests are subservient to the donors & special interests; they see that their valid issues are ignored. For example, California has 40 million people but 53 representatives (1/750,000) & two senators while Wyoming has one representative (1/580,000) with the same number of senators. This is inherently undemocratic.
I support Emma's appeal for people to vote, but I understand the barriers against it. Fahrenheit 11/9 explains this well and is worth a look.
1
@Walter Hall
Dear Emma,
You are in my heart. Like early civil rights marchers--fearless young people who fought (some died) to get Blacks their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
Those who condemn young people for laziness, lack of compassion, ignorance about health care, the NRA--forget who destroyed public education so that students didn't learn these things? The Koch Bros, Mercers, Heritage Foundation, and their Republican lackeys. They've been waging war on public education since 1980.
I grew up in Montgomery County, MD, NOT Kavanaugh territory. Jews in an antisemitic Catholic State. Public education--if you were white-was great. Required: history, civics (3 branches of gov, how bill becomes a law), English, critical thinking.
My dad worked for the govt, read three papers a day, and we all talked about politics over dinner. I registered to vote the day I turned 18, and have never missed any election over the country.
If you think it's useless, nothing can change--And DON'T believe ads on Facebook.
Find out the issues in your town, your school board (incredibly important-school boards decide the textbooks for the state, whether the scientific method or "Creation science."
Who's running for State Senate, State Rep. National Senate and National Congress in your state? Find a candidate you like; see their website, Many text. Volunteer. You'll meet a lot of great people, and learn how grass=roots democracy works! Good luck and tell all your friends to VOTE nov. 6!
Parkland kids are aware of this, and they’ve been working on voter registration all summer. #turnoutTuesday is their current project.
1
It's going to be a long slog, but keep at it. Hopefully you've all learned that gun control - like abortion - is one of the political footballs that gets tossed around every election season. To make them go away requires voting into office reasonable people on both sides of the isle. That is is a big order to fill.
47
@Iron Jennyi think we’re also now realizing that what it takes is to run for office.! To do more than just vote, to get involved!
I wish the press would give these heroic young people more coverage. It is sickening to see the same NRA and Koch/Mercer funded crooks covering the front page of every newspaper day after day. Please give us more coverage of people like Emma who show us what it is we all need to do to save this sinking ship of a country. Emma, America stands with you and your generation.
210
@kay,
Hear, hear!
1
@kay
Emma. you are our future! The Civil Rights movement started with a handful of people like you, who said, "No more!"
I'm 70, disabled, can't march or demonstrate yet. But when I see something offensive, I engage--without yelling. Yesterday, my BF and I went to a bar we used to like, until the service went downhill and prices were outrageous. Under new management, really good.
Went to the ladies room. On the door a colorful ad: "Glocks available in pumpkin spice colors, any color! Bump stocks! 1000 shells. Classes available." Aimed to terrified women.
Introduced myself to manager, said how much we like the changes. But in the handicapped bathroom, I was shocked to see an ad, for a lethal handgun.
"I believe in the 2nd Amendment, and I taught students who live in the country, need rifles for game to feed their families, and handguns of self-defense."
The Police told me the chances of being attacked with a gun in this town are very low--only 10 murders--with guns--all involving a toxic abuser known to victim. So is some nut going to break into your house, rape you, murder your kids? Not here.
The NRA (backed with Russia money) sells fear-- democrats will take our guns away! I want sensible gun control legislation (universal background checks; close the loopholes, ban private sales). Store them safely (locked boxes, which all responsible gun owners agree with). Early this year a grade school child brought a gun to school--his parents didn't bother to lock it up.
36
bless your heart
Emma, seeing young adults like you and Cameron, and like my own daughter starting college this year after working over the summer as a campaign staffer for a U.S. House candidate in New Hampshire, gives me hope for the future.
And to any and all young people out there: VOTE!
Vote as if your life depends on it, because it very well might.
23
Emma, I hope you stay in politics. And I hope you run for office. We need people like you to run the country. As you grow older, your opinions and methods will change and mature. But your heart will stay the same. Protect your heart and your soul and you will be ok. The long arc of history bends towards truth, freedom and justice. It just needs people to keep working at it. God bless you Emma. Stay strong and stay hopeful.
24
I will be purchasing Glimmer of Hope because it is important and because I know that the proceeds will support a movement that I believe in.
8
Emma, I hope you stay in politics. And I hope you run for office. We need people like you to run the country. As you grow older, your opinions and methods will change and mature. But your heart will stay the same. Protect your heart and your soul and you will be ok. The long arc of history bends towards truth, freedom and justice. It just needs people to keep working at it. God bless you Emma. Stay strong and stay hopeful.
11
It is increasingly difficult to face the news every morning. Emma, you and your team have given me hope that sanity may eventually prevail. Thanks for your words and your work.
20
We can all feel for this young woman but as with many articles about guns it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. When law enforcement fails to act on overwhelming evidence that as it did with the young shooter in this case things will never get better. This young man had access to weapons and used them. The police and sheriffs department failed the students.
5
Emma, I am old enough to be your grandmother, which I would be so proud to be. It seems crazy but I do believe that if this republic survives, it will be because of smart, dedicated, honest, and good people like you. Your are young, but you have a clarity of thought, and intention, and courage. Bless you, young woman.
35
Ms González, in a horrific environment that produces these tragedies, you represent survivors of Parkland, of Newtown, and across the nation - very well.
I won't call it horrific "circumstances" because that would be lying; that would be diminishing the power of real change; and your resolve to never give-up is my aspiration.
"Going up against the country’s largest gun lobby organization was obviously something that needed to be done...". I couldn't agree more, Ms González.
The NRA weilds far more power than an NRA Rating. This lobby is eager to assist in any control of elected officials that a right-wing interest can pay for. The NRA serves as the Lobby-whip on all matters. The NRA helps secure all Congressional votes:
- by threat of attack ad;
- by support of a primary Challenger; and
- by elevation of officials who freely spread false accusations of "They" Will Take Your Guns, in order to control citizens through fear and hatred.
Destroying the electability of Republican moderates and demonizing every Democratic challenger is their tradecraft.
I fully support Ms González and her classmates. Her advocacy is beginning to save lives, while her sights have not drifted from real change.
17
Looking for friends and not finding them.
What a beautiful, awful summary.
I'm so sorry you understand that, but I am amazed at your resilience. It's hard to keep going, because we're surrounded by humans that reject humanity. There are good people out there- find them and don't let go.
23
More power to you, Emma. This fight has gotten tougher with the Republicans about to take control of the Supreme Court. Brett Kavanaugh's, one of the most partisan and explosively temperamental judges that I know of, is about to get a seat in the Supreme Court. I am still holding out hope, though. Some Senators who voted Yes to end debate, might still vote No in the final confirmation vote.
I am behind you with all my heart and soul.
11
Bravo, Emma and the March for our Lives movement. These young people never fail to inspire me. Thank you.
13
I stand behind you and your friends 100 percent! Be the difference that was meant to be.
signed,
A sixty-year old white guy.
16
thank you, emma.
don't give up.
please don't give up.
20
Emma you rock. On behalf of the boomers I apologize for leaving your generation with so many messes to clean up. Thank you for persisting. Sean
16
@Sean Many boomers have fought hard for women's rights, civil rights, and LGBT rights since the 1970s, and we who have been in the trenches all these decades have nothing to apologize for. And now "the work goes on, the cause endures . . . and the dream shall never die."
2
I hope you run for office someday. America (and so many other places!) needs someone like you.
15
Many people prefer monolog to dialog.
Well done, Emma. We are with you.
11
A very meaningful expression of your thoughts and what you went through and are going through. You are very courageous and you and your generation may help heal and lead the U.S.A. in the future.
7
Hope is powerfully strong; keep going.
11
For long years, one has seen citizens whose idea of progress was comfort to speak with gun-in-hand, who devolved to wishing not to negotiate, refusing a world-wide trait of success. A language not used is lost. We elect politicians who should negotiate to succeed but refuse, toddling behind those who want to speak only with gun-in-hand. We lead the world's barbarians. It arises from our first war, shooting made eternal, negotiation an after-thought dragging behind.
The first will be last and the last will be first. Which of those lead us? Whom will we follow?
5
We have your back. There are more of us who are, and we continue to speak and vote on these issues you spoke of. Especially “sensible” gun laws, if there is such a thing. And remember that there is a massive army marching with you.
11
Thank you, Emma, for your voice, heart, courage, brain. I stand with you in hope and anger, sending strength and love to you and your generation.
186
Emma, as I sit here feeling a bit sick over the coming 3 p.m. announcement by Sen. Collins on the Kavanaugh confirmation...along with friends all over the country preparing for heartsickness, your op ed give me courage. I’m over 70 years old and getting courage from your youth (which I remember in my own day). Never give up, dear one. Never give up. We are all (even us oldsters) depending on you! Love you.
34
I'm 76 years old. I hope I'm still around when Ms. Gonzales is old enough to run for President so I can vote for her.
30
Ms. Gonzalez, A sort of Gresham's law of life seems to operate whereby bad people drive out good people. I am sick and tired of good people getting shot, dominated, short-changed, left-out, losing; being self-defeating, and worst of all: self-destructing. So good to read you saying,"...I try to take good care of myself". Self-consciousness impairs functionality so I will not detail all the ways I think you are so good. Civilization, democracy, and America should be about reversing that Gresham Law of the Jungle and about keeping it from creeping back. May you and all your class live very very long. That will be good - very very good; Perhaps difficult and demanding, but great for civilization, democracy, and the world. Love to you all.
12
Hi Emma, my heart broke a little bit more when I read your story. I am so sorry you and so many others are enduring such pain. This time of your life is supposed to be one of learning and you have had the harshest form of the learning experience. You have realized the surest way of fighting back...politics. It is not always the most popular topic but in the long term it, along with social awareness, is the most effective way of changing negative attributes of a society.
I notice that you do not seem to be getting any more formal schooling and I would suggest that you try to fit it in, somehow. You are already an articulate writer which is essential for communicating your thoughts on change. Your philosophy on the responsibility of citizens is right on, even if the voter doesn’t like politics itself. Learn everything you can about the political process and the economics that is often behind that process. One of the things we need to to do is keep excess money out of election activity. Learn how politicians must be not only followers of their constituents, but must also lead them by providing clear information about the legislative process and all sides of an issue. And then you need to run for office, always remembering the pain that every person feels when politics fails them. We all are sharing pain right now, but yours is one of the most profound. Thank you for caring and doing something about it. To everyone else... VOTE in November.
10
Dear Ms. Gonzalez,
Thank you for your dedication and leadership. Our society needs people like you to stand up and encourage others to step up.
Please, at this crucial juncture in our democracy, please put all your energy and your platform to the task of inspiring young people to register and VOTE in November.
You are inspiring. You can do it.
9
You are a beautiful person with a voice we need to hear. Please keep expressing and sharing yourself.
15
Thank you for this well-written piece.
So many of our politicians and population are people hobbled by the past. They take the founding principles of the country for granted, and hold our government hostage. It is almost as if they are doing it to spite more progressive ways of thinking.
You are the future, and I think you are in the majority who seek common sense and show agile thinking.
When I am the age of the current old guard, your generation will be in charge. You certainly made me worry less today!
14
Even though I am a 67 year old grandmother and high school teacher, YOU are my "HERO"! Your courage is contagious and is energizing millions of Americans. I marched locally with the March for Our Lives! Your essay and the upcoming book should be read by high school students across the country. HINT, HINT: What well to do American/s can make this donation of books across the country?!? Thank you for making Americans feel SAFER again!
19
Miss Gonzalez - I can only hope that the rapid decline of our nation can be somehow slowed so that it can survive long enough for me to vote for your congressional and/or presidential bid. You display every bit of the courage and leadership that is so sorely lacking among the current inhabitants of the halls of Congress and the White House. I was at the March in DC. As many people as there were at that incredible scene, there are so many more of us all across the country. Bless you and keep up the fight. You can win. You must win. You will win!
19
Not voting is an act of support for the status quo.
Not voting is an act of support for the current Trump Regime. And all it stands for.
Not voting, is a statement of belief that you dont care about the political environment you live in, that you are indifferent to life in a democarcy. Out of apathy or indifference or a sense of futility you are saying you prefer a political environment like the Chinese or North Korean. And truly i doubt that! Places you have probably never lived and experienced.
Protesting, whether in public or in private by complaining to a friend are mere empty words if they are not followed by the focused, determined act of voting.
Voting and inspiring others to do likewise (as Emma determinedly does) is an act of faith in oneself and in others and collective action and our collective institutions. That our life and its political, economic, social aspects have meaning and purpose; they are not empty and that I am not worthless.
Voting is an act of self-worth. Voting is a demonstration of faith in self and others. Voting when it seems futile, when the obstacles seem insurmountable is an act of Defiance and Determination.
Thankyou Emma and to all those who vote, and challenge and inspire others to do likewise.
Vote!
And ask/challenge people who are not voting if they are happy with the direction of the country.
10
Thank you Emma. Part of the struggle to achieve your goals is to demand voting reform across the entire country. A dozen or so states, swing states that decide electoral college delegates, have electronic voting with touch screens and NO paper back up! We have to take elections away from corporations and their private software hack prone machines. We need audits, everyone registered by the state, open hand counted paper ballots. Vote by mail, or drop off, would help reduce travel and shifting polling places and allow those with multiple jobs to vote. Congress can dictate reasonable standards for federal elections, but it is mostly up to the states.
Thanks for your activism and courage.
5
Emma, You share my young daughter's name. And what a beautiful role model you are for her and all of us, young and old. I have great faith in you and your generation to lift us out of this debate on social issues that never seems to come to a conclusion. Your essay is a beautiful testament to the voice of your generation. A voice of common sense and basic human dignity.
Existing gun laws and the lack of reasonable restrictions, is not about personal safety and the right to form an independent militia. A woman's right to an abortion, is not about saving the life of a fetus. The "bathroom" law is not about protecting children from being assaulted by a transgender person. Gay marriage is not about an assault on traditional marriage. Speaking of assault, sexual assault, is not about politics.
Your young, beautiful, energetic, inspiring, motivated generation, gives great hope and promise to what can be. I believe in you. I'm sorry for what you went through. And I am more confident than ever, that you will channel that horrendous experience and create the necessary change that no one before you has been able to achieve. Compassion, common human decency, respect, understanding, love. These are the concepts that you bring to the conversation with your shaved head, tears and drive. You are a force. Many millions of people are behind you. Cheering for you. Go Emma Go!!!
10
You are a HERO.
8
I saw Emma's march speech again the other night -- it was at the end of Michael Moore's new movie. I was suddenly bawling loudly without a smidgen of control in the middle of an urban movie theatre. I was crying for all those things that Emma points out - mass shootings, inequality, gun violence, climate change. But mostly, it was because I was sitting next to my 20-year-old daughter feeling like we have so profoundly failed her and all of Emma's generation. And they know it. Emma's right that it's good to cry right now. Then wipe your tears and get out the vote.
13
so proud of you, niece!
9
Emma, thank you and your classmates. I saw one of your classmates at the Denver March for Our Lives and, like you, she was sincere and spoke from the heart - she moved me more than any of the other speakers that day.
I saw the headline on your opinion piece and I thought it did you a disservice. (I know you didn't write the headline.) It makes you sound manipulative and you are clearly anything but that. I hope that others really listen to you and your classmates, not the often misleading summaries and descriptions about you.
You, and the others, are my heroes.
6
Dear Emma Gonzales,
Your words, your tears, your bravery, your shaved head, your honesty, your devastation, your strength, your intelligence, your willingness, your vulnerability, and your (and your friend's) courage to get back up and not give up is beyond inspirational. You have re-motivated me out of my (selfish) giving up on the mess this country has become.
Thank you for your inspiration, sharing your wisdom and determination, and your leadership. I hope you have all of the support you need to keep going. I am working with you.
You are the sanity of the future.
9
There are good days and bad ones. Slog through. Soon enough baby boomers will be gone. Hopefully the next generation can repair the damage done to our country and the planet.
5
I hope leading Democrats in Congress read this column, which manages to touch eloquently on issues (not only gun control, but education, the destruction of the environment, growing acceptance of Nazi ideology) that all voters should care about -- issues that could help us defeat Trump. Leading Democrats in Congress, get out of your upper-class echo chamber, and focus on the issues raised here.
7
Emma,
You are beautiful! You knocked my socks off when you gave that extraordinary speech at the rally! And clearly, you are a gifted writer. You give me hope in the maudlin age of Trump.
And keep fighting...because most Americans are behind you. There are way too many guns in this country an not enough voices such as yours. Peace out..
21
Women can be strong, intelligent, respected for their success, equal in all regards, be as good as any man in any job. But, they can also be weak, fragile, childlike, and in need of special protections, a protected class, with unique considerations, politically, legally, and socially.
This is a place men can never occupy. Men never have it both ways like women, no matter their race, intelligence, social economic status, or assumed privilege. Men are either are successful or worthless. To see equality of the sexes seems like a reach for something you cannot grasp.
2
We have a cancer in this country in two branches of our gov't and today it is spreading to the third branch. Americans need to get out and vote this November 6th and stop the madness. Emma, you and your generation voting is the cure. You are an inspiration to all. I wish you and your generation would run for office all over the country. You would win. We would win. This country would finally win. We have the numbers, we just need to vote and run for all offices at every level and finally we would have a gov't run by the people. Love, strength and peace to you.
7
You rock!
6
I hope you get all the help you need to get through the trauma you've endured.
7
It's a dark, dark road.
You lead the children into the light.
You're so brave.
The evil ones will end up falling at your feet and begging for your forgiveness.
You're our Joan of Arc.
9
Great. Now put down your iPhone and vote.
2
Resist. Persist. Vote.
7
Dear Emma , Thank you for being you , thank you for doing what needs to be done , thank you for being so brave and calling out those that need to be held accountable . You and the rest of the Parkland young people are tirelessly brave ; the rest of us that care do what we can but it is in all of you where hope lies . Perhaps your beautifully written and heartfelt opinion piece will convince more thought towards changing what has gone so wrong in our country . You and all the young people are the future and we as adults have failed you miserably .
7
I can understand after surviving Parkland advocating for gun control. However the laundry list of progressive grievances negates your message for me.
2
Emma, you are an inspiration to me, a 57 yr old white guy.
Stay strong, we need your wisdom and your voice!
8
Guns, and penises—Is NOW really the time for throwing over the old ways? Is NOW the time when dominance by force is replaced by communication and connection? When people regain their humanity?
Back in the '70's I was hopeful, but since the presidential campaign and election of 2016 I have felt re-traumatized (my issue being sexual abuse, rather than gun violence, but they are so closely related) and hopeless. The honesty, clarity and passion of this person, and others like her (Beto O'Rourke comes to mind) bring me to a new ground, and I am inspired to speak my own truth and to do what I can.
5
Thank you Emma. Thank you.
8
This beautiful editorial was needed today, when so many women and survivors of sexual assault feel anguish over Kavanaugh. Emma reminds us that even in the darkest night, we can light a candle, and be a beacon of hope, of a better day that will dawn if we fight for it.
17
Emma,
You are an inspiration to us all. Keep shaving your head and saving our world.
7
Let these words stand as a kind of manifesto for the young people of our country, proof that the post-millennial generation is not stricken with apathy and entitlement but with a sense of how they can change the course of our current dismal history.
What a strong voice you are, Emma González. May you continue to rally us to your causes with your sincerity and sympathy, your hard work and activism and tears, your courage to face down those who label you "actors" or deride you because of your appearance, and your fortitude in spite of your own fears.
Now, go and get out the vote!
7
Young people need to vote in larger numbers than they traditionally have so that there can be a better future for themselves. For the rest of us, all is lost.
1
Dear Emma,
Your vulnerability is your strength.
When you say that you cry a lot, that it is healthy and it feels good, that it is form of communication, you demostrate that you are so far ahead, more evolved than most people.
Thank you for your passion to help others but also take care of yourself and enoy your life.
6
Dear Emma-
We can hear and feel your pain because it’s the pain that many in America feel as well, but we also feel your hope and determination. It gives those of us much older than you strength and encouragement not to seat idly thinking that we’re powerless. In America today, money trump’s morality.
The “greed is good”mantra permeates all aspects of life in this country. And everything that can be comoditized is, as you,note, from education to the jail system. Displacement of low income families to exploit real estate loopholes and other tricks, trump human decency.
Stephen Feinberg of Cerberus Capital is making millions from gun manufacturing and many mutual funds count gun manufacturers among their investments. It’s not about the 2nd Amendment.
Purdue Pharma got America hooked on ocxiting through aggressive promotion and “genius”marketing, and it made its owners and founders, the “genius” Sackler family billionaires - all of them,
We need better public engagement . Emma, keep using your voice, people are listening
3
Emma, don't give up. Don't ever give up. It's you and other courageous ones of your generation that will save our country, "with freedom and justice for all," if it's going to be saved. I hope to squeak out enough more years on the planet to see you elected to national office.
3
Dear Emma,
You don't know me. A friend from high school has a daughter that was a classmate of yours (she survived). I'm a psychologist who does EMDR - a type of treatment for trauma and other things that is super effective. I co-coordinated the EMDR response to the Boston marathon bombings. I have colleagues in your area who have been working with those affected by the shooting. they provide free care, as we did, for those affected. If you're still having symptoms (or people you know) please reach out to the Trauma Recovery Network for the area... www.southeastfloridatrn.org. The services are free, and really make a difference... and thank you for a lovely piece and all the work you (plural) are doing....
6
My mother in law passed away recently from cancer, and we'd had several meaningful conversations about letting go. She said she was finally okay letting go because she knew that your generation would step up and make change happen. She specifically mentioned your name. We are very proud of you.
15
Emma, Thank you. You have lost much. Yes. And you have gained -- now you have millions of mothers, millions of fathers, millions of sisters, millions of brothers, millions of children. I will joining those millions at the voting booth.
6
If you feel strongly enough to cry, save your tears and rage. Excise Trump supporters from your life. Even if you doubt Dr. Ford’s veracity, think about the way the right has treated her. Think about the way the President has treated her. What message are you sending the next generation when they see you embrace skeptics of and apologists for men who think women are their sexual property?Commentators will lament further polarization. Like Democrats are equally responsible because they don’t chase Republicans as they accelerate towards the cliff.
You are a smart courageous warrior who has inspired a generation! Please remember to take care of yourself while you so generously fight for others. I am moved by your spirit. Thanks
6
I'm a contemporary of the Clintons, Bush, and this present person sitting in the Oval Office. I apologize to all of you. I hope I am still alive to see Emma Gonzalez become President of the United States. As I watched her stand and hold us all in thrall for those six minutes and 20 seconds, I thought there may be hope for us yet. She exhibits the strength of her generation. I fervently hope these new voters show up. The future is theirs and they must take the reins. My generation needs to support their efforts. Stay the course, Emma Gonzalez. You and your fellow students working for equality and common sense and justice are what will save democracy. I applaud you and stand with you.
6
Thank you so very much, Emma. For me, my kids, for all of us. You really are a hero to me.
8
There are people born into this world who are destined to do good things...great things...meaningful things...you Emma are one of these rare humans. You are courageous and smart and focused and very much on the side of truth. Humanity is lucky you are here. It will be an uphill trek for sure. The powerful are powerful for a reason. But truth and good can prevail even in small invisible spaces.
You have my deepest gratitude and respect.
10
Thank you Emma for being a shining light in these dark times. And thanks to the Parkland activists for the March for our Lives and so many other actions they have courageously taken. I think the march for our lives movement might expand to include the violence not only of guns but of war and bombs. The gun lobby is bad enough but what about the makers of bombs who bring millions of dollars to our nation without regard for the lives and environments of the most vulnerable populations. Here is a quote from Nicholas Kristof:
"President Trump didn’t mention it at the United Nations, but America is helping to kill, maim and starve Yemeni children. At least eight million Yemenis are at risk of starvation from an approaching famine caused not by crop failures but by our actions and those of our allies. The United Nations has called it the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, and we own it.
An American bomb made by Lockheed Martin struck a Yemen school bus last month, killing 51 people. Earlier, American bombs killed 155 mourners at a funeral and 97 people at a market.
Starving Yemeni children are reduced to eating a sour paste made of leaves. Even those who survive will often be stunted for the rest of their lives, physically and mentally."
And why are we taking these actions? Follow the money. It is not only the gun lobby, it goes much deeper than that.
8
Please, Emma, carry on. You and your generation are the hope for all of us. Your courage is a light of inspiration. Keep shining.
10
Just like her speech, her writing voice is spot on. I hope she keeps writing.
14
Beautiful essay, Emma. I love the way you and your friends have stepped into action, calling each of us to be better Americans and better humans. Our history, some of which is in the past, and some of which we are living right now, is rife with paradox, brutality, hope, evil, goodness, and wisdom. The stakes couldn't be higher and the outcomes are real and lasting. Know that many of us stand with you. Godspeed.
6
I fear that the Congress is about to deliver us another
backward looking Conservative, this time to the Supreme Court, in denial of sexual abuse, the NRA's
role in out gun culture, and the fascist inclination
toward having it all over with through autocratic rule
and oligarchy, as in China and Russia. Kavanaugh is
a good ol' boy getting older. Yet there are those of us who will do what we can to keep the nation's original
urge toward democracy, rejecting capitalist aristocracy and Biblical patriarchy, and witnessing
the man Jesus protest and fight the powers that be
in favor of the common good. End speech, but Emma, my wife and I are in our 80's and 100 percent with your heart and brain.
14
This is poetry.
7
Thank you for not giving up.
11
I fear that the Congress is about to deliver us another backward looking Conservative, this time to the Supreme Court, in denial of sexual abuse, the NRA's role in out gun culture, and the fascist inclination toward having it all over with through autocratic rule and oligarchy, as in China and Russia. Kavanaugh is a good ol' boy getting older. Yet there are those of us who will do what we can to keep the nation's original urge toward democracy, rejecting capitalist aristocracy, Kings and Biblical patriarchy, while witnessing the man Jesus protest and fight the powers that be in favor of the common good. End speech, but Emma, my wife and I are in our 80's and 100 percent with your heart and brain.
8
Emma, thank you
8
Thank you for sharing.
6
THANK YOU!!!
8
I love you.
8
Thank you!
6
Way to go Emma. You Rock.
8
Her emotion is very real. Very significant. But we should have learned by now that emotion is not a way to conduct politics. If you feel emotional about her, and you should, understand that your opinion on this writing and her ideas is not based in logic, ideology, thoughtfulness of the facts and issue, but in emotion. I repeat: emotion is not a way to conduct politics.
@Dustin You are completely mistaken. Emotion is the only way to conduct politics.
Crafting policy, governing, perhaps those things need to be less emotional, but politics is about moving people to action, amd the only way to do that is to reach their hearts.
12
@Dustin
Tell it to Lindsey Graham - did you see his speech?
Or Bret?
Please. You go, Emma!
1
@Dustin How sad for you.
1
Emma, what a beautiful essay and what a lovely spirit you
have. I grew up in Florida and live in California. You make me
feel proud of the young people of Florida.
Along with voting and volunteering I encourage those who live
in progressive states to donate to candidates in swing states
and swing districts in your state. I have never done this before
but am happy to be doing so this year inspired by the courage
of the young people of our country. We must all fight along with
them.
11
Wow.
7
You are a patriot.
8
Keep your head shaved, don't forget how to cry, go to college, serve in the military, then attend law school courtesy of Uncle Sam, a perfect career trajectory for community and national service!
You will meet people along the way that change your POV, sharpen your debating skills and screw your head on a bit differently, a healthy view of your country and the world.
6
Emma I don't know how someone can say they don't want to be involved in Politics. You are -- you either give your voice thoughtfully or let someone else co-opt it from you by your silence. Thank you -- watching your career....
8
This young woman gives me hope for the future when hope is in short supply.
8
Great job. Nothing but support for you
7
This election will be quite interesting. Who will truly be able to “move the needle” of voter turnout on November 6?
(a)The courageous and supposedly social media savvy Stoneman Douglas survivors who have been given (justifiably) near unlimited access to the press and claim they are capable of being a social media force of nature?
(b) The Southern African American women featured “knocking on doors” in today’s front page article: “Looking for Voters and a New Future, Driven by the South’s Past?”…or…
(c) A handful of professional cyber commandos working out of an obscure remote location in Russia?
Perhaps, if the forces of progress can somehow channel their diverse and often bickering multiple constituencies and, moving forward, manage to clone replicate a AND b then “c” will not matter.
For Gods sake...VOTE!
7
Emma, thank you for your “out” and “standing” self..
Hopefully, someone reading this will get your story on television and into the media to help people vote with you. Again, thank you for your standing every day service.
7
How amazing is this young woman and all the others who are leading the way out of a depraved and chaotic world. I am a high school teacher in Florida, and have not been able to move on from this tragedy. I panicked today when I returned to campus after running an errand and a boy had carefully propped open the outside door, and was on the phone most likely talking to the person he was going to let in. I wanted to shove him up against the wall and scream "what right do you have to inflict fear or worse, danger, upon the rest of us here?!!" I am so grateful for people like Emma. And thumbs up for shaving your head!
7
Respect. Gratitude.
6
A tear is running down my cheek
7
Pain and tears in this country are so common today. Yet out of that pain come - the Emmas of the world and I wipe my tears and I am hopeful.
11
Oh Emma, in a world that has slipped into such a dismal decay, you shine like the sun. There is nothing I can offer you to alleviate the pain that doesn't fade. I only want to say to you that no matter what today and all the tomorrows bring, you and those like you are the flowers in a desert, and I thank you.
8
Thank you, Emma. So, so proud of you.
9
Wow. What a writer! Made me cry.
Ms. Gonzalez - you must go to college. You'll need the tools.
6
Rock on, kid. Rock. On.
7
Emma, I love you.
6
Please please please tell your peers to VOTE. You are our HOPE. PS I am a 62 year ole white male and feel we failed are young. Please turn this mess around.
7
Thank you, Emma, from all of us. Your honest voice is strong and clear. We need you all so much.
Add to your list of things that happen every day: every day the U.S. gives Israel 10 million more dollars to massacre more Palestinians. So much money, at the root and heart of so many human tragedies.
3
Thank you Ms González.
Keep fighting.
Keep crying. But smile when you can.
Don't compromise. They'll tell you you've got to compromise. Don't listen to them.
Don't believe them. They'll tell you it's complicated. It's not.
Travel. See how the rest of the world lives. How the children in the rest of the world live and study.
What you guys are living and experiencing (in the US) is not normal. Is not irremediable.
They say that a butterfly flapping it's wings can cause a tornado. Be that butterfly - become that tornado.
Thank you.
Sorry.
Ps. Encourage the media to get together and decide to stop printing / naming the perpetrators of these crimes. Get them instead, to print the names of the elected officials that refuse to adopt the necessary gun control laws. Also, get the media to continue naming the deceased and the heroes like yourselves. Like you.
9
Emma, you are moral courage personified.
7
Best thing I read today. Give Emma a MacArthur Genius Award.
10
You are an inspiration, and you give this 65 year old hope for the future.
11
Unless you are Brett Kavanaugh, then crying is a sign of non-judicial temperament.
2
@Epistemology perhaps crying is appropriate for seventeen year olds who have lost their best friends and NOT appropriate for 50 year olds who are trying to demonstrate judicial demeanor.
11
Emma,
My granddaughter (also an Emma) was a leader in frustrating the Republican Secretary of State in Ohio end the practice of allowing 17-year-olds to register and vote in the Ohio primaries. People like the two of you give me some hope in these dark times. You both know something important: people who "don't pay attention to politics" are idiots (from the Greek idios, meaning selfishly irresponsible.)
You can't go back - none of us can. But we can go forward.
Love, Richard
15
You are amazing. Thank you.
6
Thank you, Emma.
7
Emma, here is a poem I wrote after watching your inspiring speech in Washington, D.C. Amazing. Stay strong!
#Emma Gonzales
by Tonya McQuade
There she stood
and stood
and stood
A silent tower of grief
who seemed to
be crumbling
A weeping pillar of sorrow
Who appeared
to be cracking
A muffled bell tower
Whose clamoring words
Had rung out
A suffering citadel
Whose fortifications
Seemed to have eroded
For one minute
and 45 seconds,
the silence wore on
The crowd offered claps,
cheers, rallying cries
to revive her for battle
Weariness she wore,
Her will apparently
Having waned
But this soldier
was still fighting powerfully …
we just didn’t recognize it
Until her phone alarm went off
Like an unexpected grenade
Breaking the stillness
Six minutes and 20 seconds …
The time it took to snuff out
Seventeen lives
The time Emma Gonzales
Stood on that stage
Recalling the terror
Grieving, weeping, muffled,
But a tower of strength
A pillar supporting us all
May her impregnable silence
like her formidable words
Ring in a new day
487
@Tonya McQuade
Tonya, that is beautiful. I want your poem on my wall, on every wall to always remember the power of honesty and bravery. I felt the same awe as I watched and listened to Emma that day. Your words hold Emma's promise of the future. Thank you.
2
Beautiful, Tonya McQuade.
2
Such beautiful and powerful words.
Thank you, @Tonya McQuade
2
I’m supposed to teach a 4-part church Bible study starting next week on the topic of hope. I barely have any hope in me and am working hard to teach to myself what I am going to teach others. Emma Gonzalez and her words, tone of her words, and her ability to feel and communicate have touched me and impressed me and taught me from her first public appearance after “Parkland.” In this op ed she rises ever higher into the heights of everything good and faithful and kind and compassionate, insight-full and brilliant. She stands in stark contrast to the news cycles of the filth and degradation in the WH and Congress and the impending Supreme Court confirmation. I am totally impressed with the two choices to share the Nobel Peace Prize announced this morning — for the first time in a long time the Nobel Committee has given us two people who really matter, a timely, righteous choice: Nadia Murad and Dr. Denis Mukwege. I’m going to deluge the Nobel Committee (once it publicly resolves its sexual abuse scandals) with letters urging them to award the prize to Emma next year. Okay, back to work trying to figure out what to teach on Wednesday.
11
Guns are not the problem . Guns in the wrong hands is the problem. Criminals will ALWAYS find a way to hurt people even if all firearms disappears. They don't care what you think or love. They don't care if you shave your head or not. They laugh at you when you cry. Water, rocks, computers, food, poison, cars, airplanes and pans can become weapons. We as good citizen must always stay alert and prepared to fight back. The problem is that most of us don't want to get involved in .
By the way you wrote a nice article I appreciate you you as activist in our democracy .
@Fernando I appreciate the sensitivity with which you write. However, the tired, old "guns don't kill, people kill" argument fails to address the reality of our gun culture (and what it will take to turn the tide). As a firearm owner myself, I cannot support the narrowness to which this continued argument supports. There ARE reasonable measures and expectations that ensure your feeling of preparedness AND limit the devastation of our out-of-control firearm policies (or lack of them).
8
Bravo, Emma, bravo. Keep up the good fight, and run for office one of these days.
6
There is no stronger heart then the one you are carrying Emma. You are such a brave young woman and your strength will help us all to find a way. Please take care of yourself, feel what you are feeling and know that good will win. My heart and arms are around you.
8
Gun enthusiasts are fond of the twisted logic in the phrase, “Guns don't kill people, people kill people.”
Since it should be obvious that taking guns out the equation, there would be a significant reduction in gun related murders. Only people, enough of them, can make this happen. Ms. González is one of these people. We have to make sure that there will be large numbers of citizens who stand with her and make their voices heard. November 6 is a day when we are all asked for our opinion on many issues. Make sure you know where your preferred candidate stands on gun issues.
6
This young woman is a hero. Today, she is my hero.
I disagree that there are people who "don't participate in politics." If you are living in this country, or in a country with a political system, a government, you ARE participating, whether you know it or not.
Not voting is a form of participation, one of the worst. Voting (and calling, and organizing and talking to people) is among the best. Anyone who is alive and breathing can make that choice.
Thanks, Emma, for speaking up for all the Emmas who are not able to.
7
On reading the headline, I wept. I wept on and off while reading article. Weeping is communication?...yes, it is that, tho’ I’d never had the thot. Allowing it, honoring it, taking the time for it - yes, a form of self-communication if alone, and to others if with others.
How do we. who abhor the violence and seek to restrict the tools that facilitate it, reach the ones on the trigger side of the gun whose weeping is not audible, whose gun shots replace it?
3
Emma - A man I admire says - "never waste your pain" - and that is exactly what I see in you and your classmates. You have no idea what an inspiration you are. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are not alone.
4
Emma, You and your fellow activists are my heroes. Thank you for your work.
5
Emma, like youngsters her age, doesn't know what she doesn't know. Only time and experience can lead us to discover what it is we don't know. Throughout our lives we are learning, discovering where we were wrong, exclaiming, "I never thought of that!"
On the subject of violence, by this my 82nd year, I have learned many things Emma has yet to discover. She currently has no idea what she will someday learn. Perhaps the most essential knowledge experience has taught me concerning violence is this: VIOLENCE BEGETS VIOLENCE! It never takes place in a vacuum. It radiates out to influence things--events, disputes, wars, mass murders. The course that the consequences of violent acts take to precipitate more violence is entirely unpredictable but nevertheless certain. In due course, in some place, near or far away, at some time immediately following one's violent act, or in the distant future, those who engage in violence inevitably reap what they sow.
Connecting the dots is virtually impossible. What will be the violent reaction(s) to Nicolas Cruz's violent act of killing and wounding 34 people? Was Cruz's violence precipitated by someone's prior violence? When violence occurs, whose hands are clean? Who has not themselves engaged in violence?
The Law is violent. Armed government agents enforce the law by violent means. Gun control is violent. Emma stands to perpetrate violence through her lobbying efforts. Government is institutionalized violence, the most destructive of all.
1
Emma, you give this old woman hope. I haven't felt that recently, so, thank you. You are a brave, eloquent, intelligent, strong woman. I've emailed your message to a friend who has told me her two sisters don't vote. I'm hoping she'll pass it along to them.
7
To Emma González .. I wish you all the best.
Stay with it so I can vote for you someday.
Thank you!
5
I think we should all learn to Sign "thank you." In the meantime, thank you Emma.
5
Thanks for giving us something of value to read, to think, to feel. It's a true and courageous offering to lay yourself so bare for the world to see. There's a balance to be achieved by humanity, socially and spiritually. People like you in all fields and walks of life have such guts, humility and perseverance to undertake a life of pushing for meaningful change. You are already successful, and will stay so because you've already made the sacrifice and planted the seeds. For all of our sakes, I hope you and others like you never stop. Nevertheless, I wish you a life of peace and restful happiness if that becomes the path you choose.
Many thanks, and all my awe and admiration.
13
Hey, Emma... I've lived under 12 presidents now and seen and experienced this and that, some of it beautiful, some of it horrific...
And I'm sure as heck glad to be alive to see and hear you and your generation stepping up to the plate. This piece I just read by you is a dream come true for me, because it was both so vulnerable and so strong, so personal and so universally true and human. You expressed that balance of Yin and Yang, of brokenness and strength, of humility and confidence, that we as a nation need to heal our wounds. Need to learn from and integrate our experiences- wondrous and tragic- into a new wholeness.
The clarity & grace of your writing is powerful.
Thank you!
Katie
PS It's clear to me that you are a tree already.
11
I was there in DC, in March this year, with my 11 year old grandson and my daughter marching, yes, for our lives - the lives of children at the threat of wayward, unnecessary guns - the lives of family affected by these guns - the lives of friends, as Ms. Gonzalez, who will never be the same because of a gun.
My husband is a hunter, my dad was a hunter, my grandfather was a hunter, and my grandson, who marched also, alongside of me, has gone along aside my husband in the woods. But none of these would disagree with proposed new gun laws. Generations of gun users, would not, I repeat, disagree with wisely reconstructing restrictive gun laws.
Yet the day before the March, I sat by accident, next to a woman from Iowa, a visitor to DC like me. Her comment to me was she opposed new gun laws because after all, “authorities would be coming into residences and removing ‘everyone’s’ guns!” How preposterous!
Instead of feeling the pain of Ms. Gonzalez and all those in this country who have felt the pain of unnecessary shootings, maiming and killing, there are people in charge of making laws to protect, and still allow all of us to be victims of such shootings. And why? Because of the NRA? Because of hunters, unlike my family, who want to continue to put our youth and all of us at risk? Because of. like the woman, the stranger next to me, with absolutely preposterous ideas?
Ms. Gonzalez, never give up. We hate that you need to feel this pain, and we support you. Always.
9
Should this message get to her...
Please keep at it. Change is not easy and not inevitable, it requires diligence, perseverance, and an unfailing sense of what you are doing and trying to do is right. Our generation failed you. Keep at it so your generation and the next, and so on will be safe from senseless violence enabled by archaic gun rights laws.
4
Dear Emma,
Thank you for your courage and strength. For me, it has been so tempting to just curl up, give up and "turn it all off" with the constant slew of negativity in being thrown at us every day in the news. But in this time of unending turmoil and ugliness, young people like you give me hope. Please keep fighting.
Wonderful piece.
Erika
3
Dear Emma,
Just Keep Going. Fight the Good Fight. You are Tremendous.
More Life.
3
Emma,
You and your friends have greatly inspired many to contribute and participate more strongly in support of your reality approach to killing of children and young adults.
You are making a huge difference in the direction this country goes in the future. Please keep it up.
8
What an incredible young woman you are, Emma. We are all in your debt for what you are doing.
4
"Even when people come up to us quietly to say thank you, you never know if they’re just trying to shoot you at close range......
.......many of the people who disagree with us mean it when they say that they only want to talk if we’re standing on the other end of their AR-15s."
These lines broke my heart. Our kids are growing up in a war zone of the NRA's making. What kind of madness is this? How easy it has been for the gun lobby to sell the idea to our elected officials that people somehow have the right to go around terrorizing their fellow citizens and those who are terrorized have no right to peace of mind.
7
An eloquent and wise beyond her years reflection on civic engagement. We should all be as brave as this young woman. My 21 and 19 year old children are engaged and enraged and voting as are their friends. We can only hope and pray that enough like minded voters can turn out to turn back this repugnant tide of bitterness exclusion and blame AKA the republican party.
5
Thank you, Emma. Beautiful words. Your wisdom exceeds my own.
1
Why is one of the three pieces of advice given "shave your head"? That makes no sense. The author explained why she did it, but it appeared to have nothing to do with activism.
Not all people get headaches or think they look bad in ponytails or get overheated.
1
@ML And this is what you took from this article. Lordy.
8
You go, Emma! I am so inspired by you.
3
From one shaved head to another, I am with you. But I wholeheartedly admit you are braver than I. Routinely having conversations with heavily armed people who disagree with you is scary business considering what you have been through. I admire your voice, envy your courage, and wish you strength in the days ahead.
For those of you who want to help the Parkland kids with the March for Our Lives protest, I looked it up and they started a gofundme page, which I donated to. I don't think NYT allows links to be pasted into the comments section, but I found it pretty easily with a quick search.
2
Emma,
I cannot help but contrast you and your fellow student organizers with the tired old men who are now pushing through a totally unfit SCOTUS candidate over the legitimate objections of millions of Americans. Your eloquence and steadfast determination are an inspiration to those of us who support you, and a warning to those in power that change is coming, regardless of their attempts to resist it.
6
Emma, my heart bleeds, my eyes tear for your pain. That you were thrust into this, unwilling, but oh so fiece and worthy of this fight.
Don't Stop.
We adults have failed you utterly, but you can save yourself, you CAN do it, and, by your example, just perhaps, some of us will also wake up and do the hard work to turn the ship of state back to to future, back to sanity, back to common sense.
Truth, Justice, Equality, THAT is the American Way!
6
It is so easy to become an ostrich in today’s world of horribles and bury our heads in the sand. If we do, we get the government we deserve, to quote Benjamin Franklin. Emma and our youth are shouting "Wake up!" Bravo! Let them lead us to the polls and town halls and the media
7
What an inspiring young woman. Thank you.
6
Thank you, Emma. Your words, deeds and actions and tears help us all to stand together for Life, Love and the Pursuit of Democracy without guns in America.
1
Beautiful, Emma!!! Your passion, your intelligence, and your communication skills are formidable. Your leadership is crucial!
1
Emma, there is there is a an old mantra that snow skiers use when we stand at the top of a challenging ski trail. We say “Go For It”. You and your MSD classmates have done that and much more. You have inspired many of us aging baby boomers to get involved in fighting for sensible gun legislation and for getting it’s proponents into elective office. I will never forget your moving silent minutes during your March For Our Lives speech in Washington.
5
For people on the right who think Emma Gonzalez is too aggressive, too strident and too demanding - and, with her shaved head and unisex clothes, just doesn't look like a "nice girl" should look:
A few houses down from ours lives a nice family. They have always been very friendly - if something is wrong at your house while you're away, or you need your dog walked or mail picked up in a pinch, they're the first to volunteer. They always look shiny and fresh with their "nice" hair and preppy clothes.
But they do not believe in evolution. They are staunch Trump supporters. The teenage boy entertains himself by hacking computers for fun - and calls himself a nihilist because he has no interest in politics or voting. The family offers prayers for mass shootings but would never, ever support gun control.
This "nice" family's goals are vouchers for Catholic schools and eliminating abortion and immigration, without care for who gets hurt - while Ms Gonzalez's goal is true and honorable - she cares that children can go to school safely, without the threat of being shot and killed.
No matter what your preconception is of what teenaged girls should look and act like: Emma's "nice" is the real thing. Accept no substitutes.
12
Thanks, Emma, for standing up and speaking out where your fallen classmates could not. You are an amazing American! Truly, the nation is grateful to "know" you!
It's easy to help during these questionable times, in case any of your supporters are interested. Indivisible groups are in most cities now. We write postcards to send to voters, we register voters at myriad venues - even high schools and immigration ceremonies, and we walk districts - going door-to-door to speak with neighbors. You can even support democrats who are not in your district. I postcard each Sunday, often for Beto O'Rourke, sometimes for Ammar Campa-Najjar, both of whom are not in my district. Lots to do from here to 2020!!
Thanks, again, kiddo!!
3
Ms. González,
Your name needs to be on a ballot one day. You're the fire the country needs to rid the elitist movement of excuses and self-importance.
Keep shining your light. All ages as listening.
8
This is the best piece of writing I have read in a long long time. Heartbreaking, heartbroken and yet it gives so many hope that the future, with people like you, is perhaps bright?
However, in the rest of the NYT today, headline after headline, it is clear that our laws are made by people who are seemingly incapable of genuinely reflecting on issues. Is anything uttered in congress that isn't a verbatim quote from a partisan playbook? How can we hold out hope?
Worse, the bickering partisans are literally the generation that took on the establishment against the war in Vietnam. Had I been looking at them then, I would have viewed the Woodstock generation with much the same optimism for the future that I view luminaries like Emma and Malala today. And yet, those flower children grew up into either the spineless disengaged, incapable of combating the phlegm that supports unfettered gun rights or worse, the phlegm itself.
Emma, please help me see in my fellow Americans any evidence that our hope is not simply foolishness.
I think Emma Gonzalez has wisdom beyond her years. Thank you NYTimes for this and other related stories.
1
Dear Emma,
This week we heard the opening statement of a sitting federal judge who has written hundreds of opinions and it fell completely flat in its snide, partisan remarks so far off the mark of your essay with its grace, courage, compassion and authenticity. He could have use a big assist from you in his op ed which again was lacking in even a modicum of civility and grace. Our hearts break for you and your fellow Parkland students for your loss, but what a flame of inspiration you have shone onto this dark time. Please hurry all of you and run for office--we need to vote these white, grumpy old men our of office! I cannot wait to get my copy of your book.
5
Emma, you are my hero.
I can't wait for the day when you and your classmates run this broken country.
6
i think this is most beautiful, sad, poignant, and HONEST thing I have EVER read... period.
1
I really admire this young woman, and all the rest of her contemporaries, at Parkland. She is our future, and I hope she, and many of the others will get interested in government, to help save our democracy from extreme capitalism and greed.
5
Emma without intention or political drive you have become the voice of the next generation. The tired, old ways are gasping for air, reacting with violence and hatred, and hiding behind nonsensical arguments because the times are changing. The majority of this country, and indeed the world, understands what must happen to keep us all safe. Thank you for speaking up and pushing on through immense pain and undoubtedly terror. The adult leaders haven’t been able to step up to the task at hand. With the NRA, our congress, even the president failing to do the right thing for the children in this country, it probably feels helpless at times. But there are millions of bright, good young people given hope because of what you’re fighting for. You’re a hero in our house. We are deeply sorry for the pain of this experience but please know that we’re also brightened to see that good can prevail. We all desperately need this now.
5
Thank you Emma. You are an inspiration in these dark times.
5
Emma - Keep the faith. You are never alone in this.
Your generation and the generations following you are the hope of America.
Sooner or later, truth breaks thru and rises to the top.
Stay Emma Strong even when you are tired or feeling beaten down.
My grandchildren saw you in DC at the March and came away wanting to vote tho they are too young. They will one day when they are old enough. YOU inspired them. Thank you.
238
Dear Emma Gonzalez,
You are an inspiration. You give me hope for the next generation. Please, please keep an optimistic spirit even when real change seems impossible. Your light can extinguish the darkness.
13
Wow! Keep going, keep growing ,keep inspiring and stay strong !
More than anything else,youngsters need mentoring,encouragement and a role model . You are that person !
The "greatest generation" has done an awful lot, but, there is so much more to do, and ,hopefully you ,your friends and peers along with my grandchildren will supply the wherewithal to do it .
Thank you for being you .
5
Dear Ms. González:
I am glad to see your commentary because I have wondered how to contact you. I will never forget your steely determination in front of the cameras, the microphones, your friends, and the nation. You spoke, you wept, you wiped your eyes, and somehow you continued speaking. I thought, "This woman is made of iron."
Because of you I marched here in Charlottesville--which already had its own gaping wounds. I made a beautiful sign with pictures of my grandchildren on it. "March for our grandchildren, too," my sign said. Others of my friends, also grandmothers, also marched.
You have done more than you can possibly know. You are an inspiration. And yes, even a woman made of steel is allowed to cry. As one of my grandchildren said, "It's okay to cry. It lets the sadness out."
13
They may shave their heads, they might even cry...but the real question is-how many will actually vote on Nov 6. If you really want to change things then go to the polls and vote, all the rest is dust in the wind.
7
@artfuldodger
I don't think you mean to say that her future
nightmares, damage to her optimism will be
dust in the wind. She will live with this in a way
the rest of us voters will not.
@artfuldodger She asks them to vote in the op-ed.
1
To the most wonderful girl in America, had you just known how many of us "grownups" love and appreciate you so much.
The millenial generation, even not completely by their own fault, are a lost cause. The post millenial one, however, is the only reason to stay optimistic throughout these dark times.
7
With tears in my eyes, I just have to say that the future looks bright after reading these words of a woman much better formed than so many of us, myself included.
I became an adult the day the kind looking woman and the police officer cane to my door to tell us that my sister had been found by Search and Rescue, dead, of a short fall while hiking down from a mountain. It leveled my parents and someone had to pick up the pieces. I wasn’t ready but I did it anyway. Tragedy and trauma reshuffle and reshape reality in an instant.
We’re never ready for devastation, but please heed Ms. Gonzalez’s words. It’s ok to be devastated, and it’s just as ok to fight for life in all its glory. And cry...a lot.
23
William Raudenbush--Many of us know the feeling of not being able to stand being alive, but having no death wish. Just don't let me wake up tomorrow, and have to do this again. Thank goodness, that feeling usually passes, and we struggle forward, as better, stronger people, ready to do good in the world.
4
Dear Emma Gonzalez: Your beautiful spirit comes through in the important article you've crafted here.
May your healing be stronger with passing time--it sounds as though you understand the process so well, and are bearing up with grace and wisdom.
The senators and congressional representatives from New Mexico hear from me on a very regular basis--gun control is what my messages convey since February 14th. I'll be thinking of you when I vote in the 2018 midterm elections in support of Democrats.
May your road become easier to walk over time.
21
I like Emma, and wish her success and peace in life. I am sorry for the shock and loss she and her classmates experienced because of careless USA gun policies. However, there is really no reason to opine that shaving your head is a sign of liberation. If you want to do that fine. I am a 62 year old feminist. My hair is my crowning glory that I wear proudly. Thick and wavy, long for my age, colored a conservative but realistic brown. I love caring for it, and I like knowing that it sets me apart in some way from others my age. This small vanity does not make me any less determined that we women have a seat at every table, a voice in every gathering. There is no book on How to Be a Feminist: no one size fits all look, lifestyle or choices. Embrace our differences, but work with collective zeal.
3
@karen I must disagree. Emma did not connect her shaven head with "liberation" writ large. Read it again. For her she talked about, as you have, the hair and that it was not her "crowning glory." Her "liberation" comes from not having to take care of it, not having the heaviness of it and not having the messiness of it. Please don't read into her personal statement about how she feels about her hair. And, she responded to the oft--asked question about why she shaves her head. She responded as many women do with a personal statement about how she feels about her hair.
16
@karen
Is it possible Emma was speaking about doing whatever you need to do to move forward with purpose? I'm sure she wasn't suggesting you shave your head. Just 'buzz' ahead! But not your head...
6
@karen Emma was not saying that everyone should shave his or her head, nor that it would be universally liberating for everyone. I think you missed the point there.
I will share your voice with my students, Emma. Thank you.
18
With you all the way Emma. What is done with love is done well. Keep it up.
21
Thank you Emma. You are a courageous young woman, and we need your voice.
23
Strong, resilient, energetic, empathic, and a good writer. This young woman is an avatar of a better and more caring future.
22
HI Emma,
I teach young people at a community college, and I have high hopes for this country with the advent of Generation "Z." I see in many of them a greater acceptance of diversity, promotion of women's rights and environmental concerns and a demonstration of common decency than I've not seen in those supposedly governing us. You are at the vanguard of what I hope is positive change for our society.
31
Emma, I’m so sorry that we, as adults, have failed to give you a safe and healthy nation. Thank you and your peers for leading the way. You give me hope at a time when little else does.
36
Thank you, Emma. You are an inspiration for your honesty, strength, and elegance.
21
Be fearful of this: The lefts belief that "cataclysm will bring redemption. The theatrics of revolution seem to mesmerize the left."
Fight these battles, you have the energy and the emotion to help drive the arguments, about which I totally agree.
But when the time comes and it came in 2016, in your fight to achieve a fair and decent society and you must choose between the lesser of two evils, be prepared to lay aside any scorn that you might have developed of an imperfect world.
6
Thank you Emma for standing up, for your bravery in the face of incredible odds and for your wisdom. There are millions of Americans who support you!!
24
@Glenn Appell. millions? More like most of the country. 75% of Americans agree with Emma. We just need to get them all to vote.
1
Emma, know that you're not alone. I have voted for the past 45 years and will continue to do so as long as I live. My ancestors died and paid poll taxes and took constitutional tests so that I might vote.
Not only will I continue to vote, I will do everything I can to support the work of your generation in continuing to move this country and world to a just society for all.
You (and all the young activist) are not alone, continue the fight!
25
Absolutely lovely. Thank heavens she is our future.
29
Thank you Emma for your courage. Hearing from you and your peers gives me hope for our future.
25
Gonzalez raises excellent points with the conviction of someone who knows that politics is not a game.
The rubber meets the road in places like Parkland, Vegas, Sandy Hook, etc. It's not ideology, electoral math, thoughts and prayers, "messaging" or anything like that. It's life or death. Gonzalez clearly understands that in a way far too many people do not. Campaign ads featuring gun-toting candidates waving weapons around like toys to prove their patriotism are proof enough of that.
And she's right that it's not just guns. From Charlottesville to healthcare to billionaire tax cuts to stolen SCOTUS picks to myriad corruption scandals to climate change to child separation to LGBTQ rights to abuses of presidential power, there is no escaping the consequences of political complacency. Economic milestones or not, the president and Congress should be in mortal fear of being held accountable for their actions.
28
Thank you, Emma, for your honesty and caring. I have followed the group all summer, and I really hope everyone you registered to vote will do so. Emma, I am 86 years old and you are 19(?). I have seen the future in your committed group, and I like it.
52
Emma. I don't have the words to express how moved I was by your essay. So I will just leave it at: Thank You.
34
Thank you for standing up for all of us. I pray that everyone heard your call to action, to informing themselves, and to VOTING. The future depends on who votes and who does not. I'm sad that you were forced into this role by tragedy but very happy that you've responded with action, leadership, and bravery. Every time you feel overwhelmed or depress or scared please remember that there are millions of us thanking you and supporting you as we are able. The future belongs to you and to your generation. The future is dependent on the action you and your peers take. Never give up. As long as you continue, there is hope. Change is slow and incremental and continuous.
22
Amen.
1
Emma, Stay strong, cry when you need to, and look to the future with courage and optimism. I'm optimistic for the future because of you and your fellow activists. Thank you.
21
Dear Emma,
Thank you for your wonderfully written article.
Would that I were as eloquent as you. I now have renewed hope for the future of our country.
I realize I do not really need to say this but I will anyway: All of you who can must vote this November. Get your neighbors and friends registered and to the polls.
It is an ongoing shame that so few Americans vote. In countries where people are threatened if they vote still stand in line to let their feelings be known.
Again, thank you for your bravery and not being afraid to stand up to the politicians who try their darnedest to tear our country apart.
18
Thank you Emma. Your grace and your strength is a ray of hope for a bright future for the country.
25
Emma, the suffering you were forced to endure is what increased your solidarity with all those who the suffer in our country and in our world. That is what is going to fuel your passion for making things better.
Go ahead and cry. That in itself is an act of courage, insofar as you acknowledge that suffering. Many others turn their gaze away from it. It's too uncomfortable for them. Crying is one of the profoundest forms of prayer.
You are a source of hope to those of us who had the same goals decades ago. We DID make progress and your generation and future generations must and will continue the charge. We will prevail.
Continue to take care of yourself. You are precious.
34
Now if everyone in the country had only half of her wisdom and communication skills what a wonderful place this would be.
78
Emma, Thank you for your courage, your wisdom and your eloquence. You have helped me and countless others shake off the numbness to the pain of our world and given us a renewed sense of hope. We stand with you and together we will overcome these dark times--one vote, one political action, one donation, one hug at a time.
40
Emma, I marched with you proudly in Morristown NJ on a chilly spring day and I keep the button to prove it in my car.
Many thanks to you and your colleagues in the movement for stepping up and doing what we adults never had the courage to do. I'm so sorry we fell down on the most important job of protecting our children.
28
Dear Emma,
My heart breaks for you and for all the children, families, and communities that have been affected by gun violence, a planet in peril, an economy that supports only the 1%, and an appalling political climate. I’m a 67-year-old woman, mother of a 31-year-old son, and I’m ashamed at the world my generation has bequeathed to you, my son, and your peers. Some days I just want to hide my head under the covers and pretend it isn’t happening; other days I fume and write letters. I always vote. What I’ve learned is that we need every single available voice to speak truth to power. We need you, and other dedicated, passionate people like you, to keep talking, writing, protesting, praying. We also need you to take care of yourselves and each other. My generation hasn’t done that, and you’re paying the price. Remember to nourish your own body and spirit. Remember that the road ahead is a long one, and take time to practice gratitude for friends, colleagues, the good things you see happening. Smell the flowers. Watch the clouds go by. Listen to the wind. Don’t ever let anger or hatred disconnect you from that beautiful heart. We need you, so take care of your precious self. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
65
"Be the Change You Wish to See" is more than a bumper sticker. It's the very existence of humanity. It's going to take nearly all of us to give instead of most of us simply taking. Emma clearly is aware. The rest of us needs to wake up before it's too late.
38
Like comments before me, I so much appreciate there's hope for the future. The test of who we are is how we conduct ourselves during and after adversity. Emma Gonzalez is a wonderful example of how to have a voice.
25
Emma, thanks for the courage to take the role you never wanted. You and your peers have inspired many to bring about the changes that we need in our country. I pray for your safety and continued strength. You are not alone!
To everyone who's read this and been moved by it... don't just shed tears, VOTE! And get others to vote as well. This is the least that we can do.
22
Emma - Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." We are with you. Thank you.
93
Emma,
The debt we owe you can never be repaid. You and your friends are life forces the likes of which this nation has never seen. You've inspired the world with you courage, compassion and love.
Please keep fighting the good fight. I'll be one of the millions of women by your side for all of the marches to come until the work is done.
May God bless and keep you safe. Thank you!
29
Thank you Emma.
Your thoughtful column made me cry, but also gives me hope. In a country that seems to be going off the rails, your voice makes me feel that there is still a chance we can make our not-so-united states a safer, more just and healthier country. Thank you for your hard and courageous activism. You inspire so many.
28
Emma Gonzalez is the reason I still have a glimmer of hope for the future of this country. She gives voice to all of us who feel voiceless, or feel our voices are not being heard.
Long may she stand up and tell the truth to those who, like today, decide the fate of so many of us in support of a man who believes guns should not be regulated -- but women's bodies should be.
I hope everyone her age and older is listening. I stand with Emma Gonzalez.
45
An amazing and inspiring read. I am so proud of these kids, and they give me great hope.
19
What an inspiring read! Thanks for writing this, and for shining such a powerful light. One of the most effective ways to recover from trauma is to turn your strength to doing something about the conditions that led to the trauma. I can't think of a better example of a person doing exactly that than Ms. Gonzalez and her friends in the March for Our Lives movement. Keep on keeping on!
26
As a father of an eight-year-old boy, I often worry about who will be our future leaders, what kind of world will my son have to live in.
I read your article and I'm worrying less. I pray my son has even a fraction of your passion, your drive. You have given positive energy and a voice to those who can no longer speak; to me, those are essential ingredients to what constitutes a leader. Thank you.
30
It breaks my heart that the only reason I know Emma Gonzales's name is because my generation didn't address the public policy issues that she and other Parkland shooting survivors are now working so hard to resolve.
That said, I am in awe of her resolve, her ability to inspire, and of what the movement she and other Parkland students built has accomplished to date. Those accomplishment aren't obvious yet, but they will be on November 7.
As for the rest of us: let's keep the donations flowing to March for Our Lives and keep showing up at/volunteering for their events. We've seen more leadership from these young adults on the issues of gun violence and gun control in the last year than we've seen from our elected officials in the last decade.
33
I'm all for Gonzalez and the Parkland kids. That said, Howard Fineman, who knows a lot more about politics than they do, said just the other night that the latest polls demonstrate that, yet again, young people are simply not going to vote! They totally blew it in 2010, 2014, and 2016, and they may well totally blow it again this year. I really don't know what's wrong with young Americans. They truly have no excuse whatsoever for being lazy, clueless, or apolitical in this political environment, in which their entire future's will be decided by the elections of 2018 and 2020. Yet, apparently, they are STILL not going to turn out. I think that's a disgrace.
141
@Fred White I have a 22-year old daughter who moved out of state for college and then again out of state for work when she graduated. Have you talked to young people like her? Do you know how difficult it is for young people to vote in this country? in 2016 when my daughter requested a Michigan absentee vote ballot (during June), it came a week after the elections. Same thing happened during the primaries this year. I see this ALL the time. I am a professor in a large university. My students tell me that it is extremely difficult for them to vote in a place away from their home towns. Plus, with elections being held on Tuesday, they are unable to return to their towns to vote - unless they skip classes.
17
@jen I've always thought creating an election day national holiday would be one step in the right direction (like here in Mexico) and permanent- carried by the registrant- voter information. But, I also have an appreciation for the voter suppression efforts that have been going on for quite sometime. Tough gig, but it's kind of a do or die situation.
2
@Fred White: I doubt that an entire generation is "lazy, clueless or apolitical".
Give them candidates to vote FOR rather than just voting for the lesser of two evils---and ending up with evil. Give them candidates that speak to the real issues that they face---that we all face---that is when you will see turnout increase.
Side note: Howard Fineman knows a lot more about politics than a lot of folks. Not just more than young people. In fact, Fineman knows a lot more about a lot of things than a lot of us. A brilliant man.
1
Thank you, Ms. Gonzalez, for sharing your experience and your thoughts. This tragedy should NEVER have happened, to you and the thousands who have suffered and died through of gun violence. Your voice is powerful. Know that millions of others are with you in this cause for life.
5
You are a beautiful, deep and shining soul Emma, and a role model to people twice your age.
20
It is heartbreaking to know what you and other young people are experiencing at such a tender age.
Stay angry, fight for what you know is right, be progressive. Youth is our only hope for returning democracy to America.
4
This was a good piece of writing. I think of the different outcomes of fighting with all one’s emotions on the boil or fighting with a calm eye in the center of this emotional storm.
Rural White America is paranoid. Or so it seems to urbanites. But their paranoia isn’t random. America’s guns “settled” the country, grew to a vast industry, and its a big country and if you live out in the country help is not on the way if something bad happens to you, and guns are everywhere because that’s how the country was “settled”, and so something bad could easily happen to you, so you need guns, you feel safer with guns, and being isolated you maybe listen up when the internet is stoking paranoia about... everything. Guns and isolation and fear.
To change this status quo may require something no one has thought of yet.
11
Ms. Gonzalez, I feel every word you wrote - and thank you for them - but feel them not for the horrific reason you do.
The tears they've induced in me are not only for your losses, but for the loss of leaders who used to care. Care about you, me, all of us, our country, our decency, our integrity and had the courage to show it. The courage to stand up and fight for it when greedy, power obsessed politicians want to destroy it for personal gain.
But it is at times like this, when it seems every good thing we thought and believed about us as America is being trammeled, our ideals bludgeoned, I see the future in you.
And this old tree thinks it will be in very good hands.
You have more strength and wisdom than you know, and the heart to guide you. Stay strong.
6
Emma González, You are my hero! You, your friends, and regular Americans like me who have eyes and ears to see and hear the damage guns are doing to our nation need to go vote. Corrupt politicians and gun lovers have something in common - they are hungry for power. I understand why they would form a natural alliance. But they are few and we are many. What I don’t understand is why anyone EVER would not vote.
7
I wish there was more heart in our leaders, who have sold their souls to money and power. You inspire me to stay true to myself and truth. You are stronger than you know.
12
When will she be old enough to run for president?
6
Thank goodness for your generation and those like you. Unhampered by old baggage, and empowered by an excellent school which respected and encouraged diversity not decisiveness. My hope for your future is you and my grandchildren’s gen.
10
Thank you Emma Gonzalez! You give all of us hope. I'm grateful that the future is in the hands of young people like you.
5
Emma, you are a brave soul, who was in the middle of a shooting spree, one of many in the country, an institutionalized violence allowed by the republicans, and the NRA, as being just 'business as usual'. For them, other's lives seems an afterthought, as greed has taken possession of their judgement and any feeling of justice, even compassion, arising out of their actions (and lack thereof, when prudence -doing what's right- is ignored). Politics, the art of the possible, is also the art of compromise, sorely lacking in today's toxic environment. And not participating in politics would allow demagogues and charlatans take over 'a la Trump', something you must help stop, as you are trying, by contributing mightily in making us aware of the injustice perpetrated by too many self-serving politicians...who ought to know better.
9
May God Bless you, Emma. I have always loved you, and your shaved head, and your gritty intensity, from the first time I saw you. This piece just demonstrates to me how brave you are, and eloquent, and what an incredible human being. You and your fellow MSD activists got up off the floor of your high school on that awful day, and said, this has got to stop. Who will stop it? We will. You are mighty. You will do great things. You have my gratitude and my respect. and any assistance I can give.
10
Thank you for not giving up. You and your friends are the hope we need right now. We are so appreciative for all the work that you do.
8
Thank you Emma and your peers who have taken such a leadership role for us all. I do hope that you all will get a good university education to become knowledgeable to be even more effective. Don’t be the uneducated, uninformed and ignorant that the right wing thrives upon.
3
Go Emma! You and your contemporaries give me hope during these bleak days.
10
Emma, you are my hero!
6
First, let me express my deep sorrow at the trauma and losses you experienced. School shootings are horrific and should not happen, period. I do hope you always know that what you did with your rage effected millions positively. Millions will never forget the stance you, and your friends, took and how magnificently you all inspired an unforgettable day of protest. It's my firm belief that that day captured the true desires of the vast majority of Americans: To have reasonable gun control and stop all school shootings. You, in particular, have the ability to use speech to awaken the sleeping and challenge the oppressors and I hope that you'll continue to find the courage and strength to use your voice, your presence, your fury to fight for what absolutely needs to happen in our country. Despite what those who want the "status quo" will say or do to discourage you, I know that millions upon millions of older people (of which I am one) are so grateful that you and your fellow young people are railing against and seeking to overturn decades of bad decisions. Your rage is justified, your fear is justified, your passion and courage are inspiring and effective, and we thank you for not giving up, for continuing to speak and act against the atrocities that are destroying our democracy. Bless you, Emma, and please, please stay strong, stay fierce, stay you.
6
Dear Emma,
We've all inherited this huge weight. The history of humanity, for all our cleverness and progress, is top heavy with greed and bottom heavy with grief. And I, of course, have my fingers pointing at what to me are the regular targets, they being the humans who have no doubt that the so-called 'wise hominid' is the apex of evolution, and that they—generally the descendants of Europeans who call themselves 'white' in the belief that it associates them with 'light' as in 'good'—are the apex of the human races. This arrogance, engrained by their religions and the technology that surrounds them, tells them that everything is exploitable for their benefit, and that the consequences should not fall on them. In this country, this arrogance worked to transform an antiquated but still fairly clear amendment to the Constitution, the 2nd, into a vast industrial complex in which the inanimate, the gun, became more beloved than the animate, that being our children. And so every time I see your beautiful, sorrowful eyes, and read your wise words, I lament this fact: that my own beloved neighbor (and I'm not speaking metaphorically) has thoroughly fused two conflicting ideas — a loving god, and unlimited guns as a birthright — into a single philosophy in which anything goes as long as God and Guns pervade our society. This breaks my heart, because obviously he is not alone. So I stand next to this giant slab of nothingness and lament, and still, stubbornly, wish you the best.
5
Emma, you are remarkable and I am sorry for the terrible experience that brought you to this point. Thank you for finding a way to use it for good. You and all the March for our Lives group are inspiring and offer hope to our damaged republic. I was in Washington for the March and feel so hopeful that your generation is moving us and inspiring us. Bless your work and thank you!
11
Emma: “Even when people come up to us quietly to say thank you, you never know if they’re just trying to shoot you at close range.”
we hear you and how utterly tragic that this is the reality so many hundreds (is it thousands now?) of school children face due to the insanity of mass school shootings.
the public outrage seems to have dulled which is, to my mind, nearly as outrageous as the shootings were. how dare so many people sweep under the rug such insidious, dangerous problems?
a very heartfelt thank you to you, and your friends and compatriots working to effect change.
i hope to join in agitating for change. as many others have said here in their replies: we absolutely must get money out of politics. and elect a new breed of representatives who will actually do the jobs that we are paying them to do.
13
Thank you Emma. I feel profound sorrow for your having suffered the appalling, horrific experience of now almost casual gun violence that permeates American society. Your experience amply represents the true cost of this ongoing madness. You have my deepest admiration and support for your courage, determination, idealism, and activism. You are the hope for a better future, therefore keep doing what you’re doing.
6
Emily—people like you give me hope for the future of this old world. Thank you!
10
I am fully sympathetic with Ms. González: I believe there should be
(1) zero tolerance of violent crimes, the convicted perpetrators tattooed or branded and, possibly, exiled for life to a remote uninhabited island;
(2) training of all citizens of good will since early age in the respect of firearms as precision instruments and in their use for self-defense and the defense of others.
1
@Tuvw Xyz so you do not believe in redemption, in that some, not all, but some people WILL change with time and age.
You believe that one conviction, rightfully or wrong, is a lifelong sentence of exile, of shunning by 'decent society' forever. I disagree with you, although I will stipulate that our criminal justice system currently is an abomination, not doing much, if anything for rehabilitation, merely savage punishment. The Innocence Project is showing us just how many people have been wrongfully convinced, and many people have overcome their violent pasts to do good work, like the former neo-nazis now working for racial justice.
I also would like to know just how one/society is to judge just WHOM is a "citizen of good will", whom will receive this firearm training. I, myself, am a crack shot, as my father taught me well, but there are people in my own family who should NOT have access to firearms, due to violent temper issues.
Who decides?
2
Ms. Gonzalez, you're a very brave young woman, and the Gun Lobby, as powerful as it is, is deathly frightened of you and your classmates. So are the Republican politicians who front for them, including Chuck Grassley.
Don't stop, ever. Continue your activism. I personally hope to see you in Congress someday.
One last thing. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
5
I am 71, and most people I know outside of my activist group say they just aren't interested in politics, that it doesn't have anything to do with them.
Think again...how close is your nearest hospital? How much do your prescriptions cost? Is religious dogma being taught to your child in school? Is your water, air, soil, streams clean? Can you or your future children afford higher education? Is your car safe on the roads? Is there asbestos in your flooring? Can you afford electricity, broadband or satellite internet (or is it even available?) Are your roads and bridges safe? Do you trust the police? Can you afford your housing after taxes? Do you care when the taxes you pay are used frivolously? Are your children safe at school? Are psychopaths walking the streets? Does your garbage get picked up?
All of these things, plus many more day to day things and experiences are controlled by the government and the people we elect to represent us.
Have a serious thought about how your life is protected, then do your research and vote responsibly. This next generation has opened the door to change and real greatness. It is up to you to deny them or follow their example.
I'm not religious, but I pray daily for these young people from Parkland who raised their voices to be heard. Let them and their generation save us from our apathy.
9
Emma, you give me hope for this country. If you ever decide to run for any office you will succeed, I have no doubt. You and your friends are to be commended for all of your hard work and dedication to your cause. Never give up hope.
25
I do not often talk about God. I consider it to be a personal matter that does not need to be constantly expressed. But the first thought I had when I was reading your words was "God bless you Emma Gonzalez".
5
Emma, I'm so proud of you and your classmates for the strength and compassion you have. If I ever have the chance to meet you, I will come towards you with arms and hands wide open, to show you that the last thing I'd do would be to shoot you, I want to give you a huge hug. Stay strong - do cry - but continue to be you. Those of us who support you, love you, even though we don't know you. We've got your backs.
10
Emma, Many of us are banking on your generation to break the NRA's grip and bring in a gun control law. My generation could not do it but yours has our support.
7
Thank you Emma!
I might add
Boycott. Everything.
10
Good for you Emma, we are so proud of you, and so very sorry you had to go through this.
I hope we can get guns under control and off our streets.
19
She reminds me of a young Madonna or Lady Gaga. Help her or stay out of her way - it's for your own good.
4
I swell with pride when I read your words, Emma. Amidst the shame of the direction this country has taken in the last two years, this is the antidote I personally needed. Thank you for standing up. Thank you for speaking clearly, articulately and with such conviction. And thank you for showing others the way through the example you have set with your life. You represent the best of us.
7
Thank you Emma! Please don't give up. You aren't alone. The world needs your voice now more than ever.
7
Thank you Emma. We are with you, we won't forget, we won't give up.
6
I don't know if that young lady reads the comments. I would like to recommend to her the first half of Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning. I think it might help her want to live.
5
The hair thing has true political symbolism:
Long hair is seen as beautiful and sexual. Not just for women -- Robert Plant knew this too. The expectation that women maintain long hair is equivalent to the expectation that we strive to be beautiful -- that we hold ourselves to the standards of the male gaze. Many women feel insecure without long hair because we have internalized this system of valuing ourselves -- we automatically feel insecure if we sense we are not meeting the standards of the male gaze. This isn't frivolous -- it's related to power. Beautiful women are accorded higher status in our society, according to the rules as they exist now. Their voices are valued more (though none of our voices are valued much).
We will not make progress until we revolt against the male gaze. I will be shaving my own head this weekend -- likely on the same day that an attempted rapist is confirmed to the Supreme Court.
We need real power.
22
So wise. We get the government we deserve. I have sympathy for those that don't have time to think about politics because they're struggling to get food on the table. But I have rage for the Bernie supporters who wouldn't vote for Hilary because she'd be "just as bad as Trump", or those that figured she'd win anyway and put in a too cute "protest" vote for Jill Stein. Every vote matters.
9
I'm deeply sorry that in our current world even a quiet expression of support feels like it could be an assault: this says how much change is needed. You and your classmates continue to be inspirational and deeply admirable. Know that you are successfully moving the discussion in a positive way. The nation owes you a debt of gratitude and an apology, this should never have to be the work of children. I can't wait until the youth vote unseats those who won't learn...
5
Thank goodness your generation is awake, because the generation in charge is destroying our country.
They have forgotten who they work for.
Let us all remind them next month.
15
Well done. Thanks from all the rest of us for the spark.
23
How you and your entire high school class became some of the most eloquent political leaders overnight is one of the enduring mysteries of this oh so terrible time in our history when everyone knows - consciously or unconsciously - and is reacting en extremis - that things are beginning to go seriously wrong on a planetary scale. It is the voices of denial versus the voices of awareness and warning in our country. Unfortunately the voices of denial appear to be winning which makes you and your classmates voices so crucial.
7
Cameron - I am so proud there are young people like you in the world, who are speaking out, questioning, and sharing your story. Cry, scream, shave your head; do what you need to do to heal, your voice will continue to inspire others.
2
Dear Emma,
There are no words that I can put together to express my appreciation of you, your group who stood so valiantly in the face of all this hysteria.
Your eloquence just is too persuasive. every day 96 people get shot and killed. that is a horrible statistics. I left the US as I was informed that I had been singled out to be one of those to be killed. It really is that bad.
4
Keep up the fight, Emma. Brush off the angry cynics who want to tear you down. They are scared witless of you because when they see you, they see their worst nightmare; a person of principle who isn't for sale.
7
It is hard staying sane in an insane world, staying strong when the tides of fickleness are pulling against you. In the end what matters is that you can look at your face in the mirror and know which side you fought for
11
Thank you for your courage. Please be good to yourself and take care of yourself.
3
Emma you are an amazing young person and so are your compatriots. You’ve indeed taken on the biggest of the big lobbies. Thank you. In these head spinning days where sanity seems to be slipping away on so many fronts, don’t loose sight of your cause, don’t get distracted. I know you won’t. Take care of yourself and let others take care of you. I know you will.
For what it’s worth, I would be proud to be your mother, my daughter would be proud to be your sister. I know your mother is very proud of you. Every sane person is proud of you Emma. Carry on!
20
You give me hope for the future.
2
Thank you Emma, I look forward to voting. You are a role model for my 13 y.o. daughter.
10
Emma's honesty is a road back to sanity for all of us in this country confronting or hiding from the self destruction of a nation.
11
Keep going Emma, your work is so very important. Thank you.
9
For you, Emma: "I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word". Martin Luther King, Jr. Keep the faith, Emma! And get your friends' friends' friends' friends' to VOTE!
8
As always I am impressed with the insight, wisdom and dedication these young people have. If our political system is ever to get right again, it will be because of women like Emma and men like Cameron and all the new voters who speak out and vote.
Thank you, Emma. I share your tears.
13
Emma,
When you speak, you touch all of us. You voice lights the path forward. Your actions spark the fire of change. Thank you from my heart.
317
@Bill Peerman
Emma, you inspire, you give me hope for our future. You are one of the bright, young jewels of our nation. Never cease to illuminate the darkness. Your light is a comfort to all who feel the weight of these dark times. Thank you!
2
Hi Emma,
I don't know if you'll read the comments on your excellent piece, but I wanted you to know that I am a middle aged white guy who feels just like you. You are just like me and I am just like you in the most important ways (though I suspect we shave our heads for different reasons). I hope my daughter turns out just like you, and that the tears in my eyes make me feel better, and you too.
Thanks, and all good wishes,
Patrick
18
Emma- As a teacher and a mother you inspire me to keep instilling in my students and my own children the importance of voting. We need the voices of strong young people in our country, fighting for a better world. Thank you for all your work so far, and I can't wait to see what you make happen in world.
11
Woke up this morning at 3 am and couldn't get back to sleep because of the despair I feel for our country at the moment. How fortuitous that you, one of my new heroines, wrote this piece and gave this grieving heart some hope. Know that whatever else may happen in terms of changing laws, you are providing something so precious and rare. A big responsibility, yes, but a great fortune to have the gift to fulfill it.
15
Emma, you are a wonderful inspiration. I know that your work comes from a horrific experience-it's unimaginable.You have taken that and showed the world what the power of just a few committed people can do. The most important work is still to come: how to galvanize people and get them to vote for good quality stateswomen and statesmen: people who are committed to improving the lives of others, not themselves; who understand the value of the environment, the immigrants, supporting all people in this country so no one is left behind. Stay committed and someday I'll be voting for you!
10
I LOVE you, Emma.
You are smart, passionate, brave, dedicated and I am so proud of you.
You are the future of the USA.
I wish you were my grand-daughter.
11
Dear Emma, Take Care of yourself. Welcome to the Trauma Club. You all are doing so well in thoughts, words, and deeds. Keep moving on down the trail. Take rests when needed, bring supplies, a transitional object or totem is always helpful, indulge in art of all kinds both as observer and creator,walk under the graced and sacred canopy of leaves, gather stones and or other found gifts, read and learn from others,even those who might not think like you- sometimes they have gifts to share. Keep safe and always , always trust your gut , heart , and mind. Fade and disappear when necessary. Prepare for the milestone memories. They will come and they too will pass. Life goes on . Read and read and read. Continue to write and speak out. We ALL are with you and the others. And don’t worry about crying- it is a very good thing.
8
I read this article and wept, smiled, empathized and, most importantly, hoped. Hoped that there are more people put there like her.
20
Emma, I am a mom and I am so proud of you. You are fierce and you are so brave. Stay strong. Stay brave. Stay safe. I will do my part.
21
Kid's like Emma Gonzáles give me hope that my own kids' future will be okay.
318
@Nomad Thank you for your activism. You young people are amazing to get involved and work to change the world that one day will be yours. People need to peacefully protest as us seniors have done since our young days. You will change the world. You are our best hope and your work is inspiring. And I thank you for your work.
1
Dear Emma:
I read your words and realized you have all the makings for running for senate one day. In the meanwhile, study hard, read all you can in many areas. Take along with you your friends and help them to run for different positions, and groom yourself to run for the senate. Perhaps, it will be your generation that will bring a commonsense approach to the issue of gun control, along with other issues that need a strong focus.
You will make a difference. You have a fire in the belly. That will take you there.
38
@NMEmma has to chose wisely avoiding the romantic notions of others. Many in the world already are waiting for her in the wings wanting to destroy her and what she represents. She must craft a future to meet her wants, her needs, her desires and initially, one vetted primarily by her instincts. She's young and needs to wade through the shallows that comes with youth carefully and at her own speed. .
2
It took me a couple tries to get through this. Emma, I know that you can see the impact that you and everyone in March for Our Lives is having, but just to give a few more examples...
In my state of IL, where I'm a grassroots Moms Demand Action leader, moms have been watching March for Our Lives, and felt moved to join the movement.
We already had a strong Moms Demand Action presence in IL--it grew by 700%, almost overnight. We were already making some progress with IL laws--but this year we were able to pass two new laws (72-hour wait for all gun purchases and lethal violence order of protection). We're close to getting a state gun dealer licensing bill finished (once we get a governor who is dedicated to reducing gun violence). The NRA can be scary, but Moms are discovering that many individual NRA members at the local level want many of the same gun sense measures we do.
I am so so sorry that you had to go through this, but I am so grateful for the heroic dedication of you, Cameron, David, and every other student around the country who's joined the movement.
Moms are inspired, and we're never giving up either.
33
Dear Emma Gonzalez,
I am a grandmother and your words, your sad-but-strong determination to help the world heal, take me back to when I was a child, and I wanted more than anything to save the world. That young girl, the girl I was, reaches across the many years to thank you. Now I have children and grandchildren, and the problems still exist, and we must all fight harder than ever. Dear Emma, for the sake of my children, my grandchildren, and for the the children and families to come, I thank you for speaking out so beautifully and powerfully. You are a force to be reckoned with, and you are making a difference.
177
Good job Emma! I hope you read the comments to this wonderful essay you wrote. The Times comment board is one of the few places on the internet that isn't filled with internet people. There are a lot of people who feel the way you do.
13
Emma and her fellow survivors and those young people joining their movement are what gives me a sense of hope during this very dark time in our history.
Showing up to VOTE is a privilege that people have and are dying for around the world. We still have that right, but it is not guaranteed unless we use it and use it regularly to elect people who will make our country and our world a better place for all of us, and not use the power of their office to plunder and pillage and inflict pain on everyone they look down upon.
Emma inspires me. She should inspire us all.
48
Over 300,000,000 guns were not used at M.S. Douglas HS. In fact, civilian owned guns meet the industrial and engineering gold standard - Six Sigma - for safety.
5
@Burton
And hardly any were used yesterday, or the day before, or the day before that. A lot of people were not shot to death. So far, at least, more people are not shot to death than are on any given day. Is that your argument? It's ok if only a relatively small number are killed bu guns?
3
@Burton Yes, and a hand grenade is also perfectly safe until you pull the pin, and a rocket launcher is perfectly safe until you pull the trigger. Maybe they should be legal, too? Civilian-owned firearms are perfectly safe until you point them at someone or something and pull the trigger, and this what they are designed and engineered for, Burton. You cannot see the forest for the trees, and I think this makes people like you irresponsible and dangerous.
1
@Burton Get back to me when there is a Six Sigma for gun owner mental stability.
7
Emma, what a true hero you are! Keep speaking girl friend! I hear you and I will vote, get my family to vote, and we all will keep fighting this fight to ease your burden, really our Democracy's burden.
32
Good for you, Ms. González. It takes courage to stand up and be a leader. Stay strong, keep fighting, and best of luck in the exciting years to come.
26
What a courageous young woman. She is fighting for all of us..to return our nation to one that is caring and sensible.
All we have to do is show up and VOTE. So, let's get it done and bring it home...to return our nation to the "rule of law" and decency...
Vote "D" for Democracy and Decency...straight ticket.
58
Very moving. I was struck with recently passed the anniversary of the Santa Fe mass school shooting that these stories fade from the news cycle and are gone- except for those that lived it. The local news noted the anniversary and I saw nothing nationally- that was it. Same thing with Harvey/Florence. Florence is not even a blip in the news now but I know there are thousands dealing with it. Harvey was on our radar for 24/7 for months and months- and still is to some extent. These events touch live- real lives.
18
Thank you Emma. For all that you are doing and your dedication to making your country safer and better. My son's half brother (same dad, different mom) was slaughtered in the Las Vegas shooting. As a Canadian I have no way to politically influence your country to make it safer for my family. When you advocate for yourself you are also advocating for me. I'm grateful for your courage and wise words about crying. Yes, crying is OK, but so is action, and you are doing both.
58
Thank you, Emma, for sharing with all of us your passion for your fallen friends and the gritty determination with which you are pursuing much needed change in this country. I've never been politically active, but I was inspired to participate in a satellite March For Our Lives rally last March 24. Please continue this great work and know there are many thousands of us who have your back.
35
Dear Emma González,
Thank you so much for this beautifully written, incredibly moving essay; for your fierce dedication; and for your love. You have lifted my spirits at a time when I have been filled with despair for the future of our country. I cannot begin to imagine the depth and breadth of your anguish, but please know that my thoughts go with you, and I will do my best to follow in the path you are blazing with your bright, shining light. I thank you again, with all my heart.
P.S. I love this wisdom from you, in part because I was crying as I read your essay: "I also cry a lot. But crying is healthy and it feels good — I really don’t know why people are so against it. Maybe because it’s loud. Crying is a kind of communication, and communication is awesome. The lack of communication is what keeps us in this situation." Amen to this profound observation!
81
Emma Gonzales like many other older commentators I find my hope for the future lies in the hands and actions of young people like you. I was a young sometime activist in the 60's but much like Occupy Wall Street we had no focus and didn't think much about how to accomplish our goals. But despite too many choosing violence we did bring about the eventual end of the War in Vietnam and we birthed the feminist movement. How sad I feel 50 years later seeing it all coming undone. Your generation are smart, articulate and understand that it is only with engaging in the rough world of politics and encouraging everyone to vote as if their lives depend upon it and in many cases it's actually true as you have found out. Emma I so admire you and I also cry for you. With tears in my eyes, Aurel
41
Emma,
Your daily struggle is heart-rending. I hope that you are also getting some help on an individual level. I was at the rally in NYC and it was amazing and powerful. But you and Cameron and others in the movement continue to battle every day. Please stay safe.
28
Beautiful, beautiful. In tears. I agree with what Tony wrote. "Your eloquence is astonishing." Everything here is lovely, heart-wrenching, honest, authentic, so close up to your heart, taking us into the world we can't see—your moment of collapse, staring at the trees. I don't want to say it's up to the next generation (you, and other young people) to save us, to "be the change"–because, profoundly powerful as you are, it's still up to all of us who are lucky enough to still be alive to also be agents of that change. We can (and will and have) follow your guidance, join your march, promote your message, but we must be active and push ourselves, and insist on this groundswell that will begin to heal the world.
32
This is a very brave thing Ms. Gonzalez is doing, and as someone who had to take action after enduring a situation that left me with a varying degree of PTSD, I cannot help but view her actions partly as a way for her to continue to heal herself .
I'm certain most of us can understand healing processes vary according to the individual and the circumstances. A fairly recent example was during the Iraq War when a mother was forced to contend with the death of her son during the conflict.
She became outspoken, condemned the actions of the Bush Administration. She joined protests and became, because of how instances like the one she immersed herself in can play out, a fixture in the news cycle. And then she seemingly disappeared into thin air.
I recognized this as a stage of her healing. She was moving on to another place in her attempt at healing. My better angel inched forward and I hoped it was for the best. Some don't move forward, the horror remains and can cause a relapse-drugs, deep, deep depressions. I believe you get the point.
To cut to the chase, ones healing varies accordingly.
I found myself for years standing on the edge of a diving board looking down, fearful of letting go. For some they understood, others told me to move on.
Well, after twenty-plus years I eventually moved on. But just so far. Ms. Gonzalez, as you continue to fight back from all you've endured, all I can say is I wish 'All the Best, to the Best.'
16
So a young teen writes and makes more sense than many adults do? That both inspires and concerns me.
95
@Steve As the victim of a mass shooting, Emma Gonzalez sees things from a perspective that is foreign to most of the American population. As she is also a very good writer, she does a great job articulating that perspective.
7
Keep fighting the good fight. I think you ( we) are actually the majority, we just haven't had to show it in a while.
You've learned the lesson that our political system is broken--putting an industry (guns) over children's lives, in the cruelest possible way. But that comes with opportunity to speak from experience now--something the tools of our broken system can't deny.
25
This is one of the most powerful statements I have ever read of the meaning and feeling of humanity and loss. It also contains the most basic statement of the responsibility of everyone who holds any type of public office, indeed of every citizen.
"It’s their job to make our world better."
101
Beautiful piece Emma.
As the Dad of one of the angels of Parkland put it, these students/families lives have been forever changed.
Take note Kavanaugh, gettting grilled at a supreme court nomination hearing , does not change your life forever.
Puts things in perspective.
73
Thank you Emma for your inspiring writing. People like you and your dedicated friends give us hope for the future.
Our politicians are too dependent on big donors and big money. They are not free to do what is good for the country.
Focus on getting money out of politics, otherwise we will never have a democracy.
You have already kindled the conscience of the country. Thank you all.
86
Emma,
Your eloquence is astonishing. And you made me cry. You're right, it's good for the soul - and a reminder that we have to take action, too. Thank you for all you have done, for remaining steadfast in the face of animosity and for giving us parents hope that our children can be the change we wish to see in the world.
83
Young men and women like yourself, Emma Gonzalez, make me realize that the youth of this Country will make changes for the betterment of this County, that my generation have been unable to conquer thus far. Your courage and determination are remarkable.
46
Thank you for your hard work, perseverance and always honesty. I am inspired by you and your classmates and the movement and awareness you have created. Please don't give up. America needs you and your friends, your voices and your passion.
Thank you and Bless you, be safe Emma.
41
Thank you, Emma. Thank you for using your voice to amplify the concerns of many. Thank you for encouraging your peers to vote; it matters. As a teacher and as a mom, I am so proud of you.
47
Thank you - your and the whole March for Our Lives group are an inspiration. We believe your generation will save the world, and boy does it need saving.
34
Emma,
I wish you joy and peace. I hope you succeed in your efforts to awaken all of us.
39
God bless you Emma Gonzales.
66
I stand with you, Emma.
Thank you for your clarity, determination, and strength. You give me hope.
106
I admire your clear voice and I see your strength. Believe it or not, and it's sad to say, but the fate of the world now rides on the shoulders of the young and on the shoulders of the courageous women. While the old order battles for stale power, take charge, change the rules, and turn the page of history.
82
I don’t want to add to your emotional burden, but you are our hope for the future. Next time you find yourself wishing you were a tree remember there are millions of people out there who are with you, who believe in you, who love your energy and commitment, and who will fight the good fight with you. I’m 75 and it’s a great relief to me to know that there are young people like you and your friends out there.
636
For the past few weeks, I have been in despair over the state of our country which my immigrant father worshipped, flaws and all. Today, we are not flawed, we are flat-out broken—and so are my spirits. But if
after everything she has endured Emma can find the strength to persist and resist, so can I. Thank you for giving my battered soul a reason to soldier on. And yes, in the face of all our national horrors, soldiers are certainly allowed to cry.
263
Emma, your opinion article was very moving. You have my support. Hopefully in time, with leaders like you, this country will change.
You go girl!
79
Paying attention to politics doesn’t mean keeping up with every issue. Everyone has a different focus, and everyone can instigate change for issues they are truly devoted to fixing. Thank you, Emma, keep speaking out.
50
I am inspired by your story and I support your voice.
You honor your fallen friend, and you are making a positive difference.
142
Stump docks, hump docks, torn socks, no, Bump Stocks.
A congressional baseball game can get shot up, and no matter.
The school shootings are good for gun sales, because they cause some to go out and clean them off the shelves before they are banned.
Hence. more school shootings, more gun sales.
Watch a new Supreme Court rule that any restrictions by states on second amendment rights unconstitutional.
Gun shops in the lobbies of psychiatric facilities are coming.
The signage, "Our prices on Assault weapons are crazy".
29
I’m shaving my head today and doing it everyday until we change the direction of our country.
Thank you for your message, strength and determination. Do not be discouraged. Your work may be the most important of any being done today or tomorrow. You must continue even though to odds seem against you.
Thank you.
73
Thunderous essay. If I can offer one piece of advice: the issues you mention, the ills we're grappling with...political money is at the root of them all. As you do your work, keep your eye on the money. Getting money out of politics is our most necessary step.
506
@Diego
Absolutely...and we should all be talking about this more often. We can now see our government broken, money at the root of it.
15
@Diego
Exactly right! But the problem is the Supreme Court run by Mitch McConnell. He was the great supporter of Citizens United which ultimately brought an honest to God con man into the White House, thanks to Russian money and influence.
The Democrats had better start playing hardball here, starting with an 11 member Supreme Court and continuing with putting Kavanaugh behind bars for repeatedly lying to the Senate.
2
This is an inspiring call to action. You have a unique way of connecting the personal to the political that can stir the spirit while maintaining clarity of mind. You remind us that we are at a critical juncture where we could lose the environment, the educational system and so much more if we do not all get involved, vote, and demand a more just society from our elected leaders.
127
Emma – you have a voice and a platform. Continue to speak out. Continue to fight the fight. And in doing so you will give courage to those who are afraid to speak to what is in their hearts. You and others like you are the tipping point our nation needs to affect desperately needed change.
172
Leaders are not born. Leaders are shaped by their response to adversity. Your inspired words give me hope for future generations. Take care of you.
495
@M. Jones Isn't it heartbreaking that this bright, passionate young woman had to be inspired by such a horrific event? My first year as a teacher was 2001, and several of the students I taught were moved to join the military by that awful day. I was inordinately proud of them (though I am a devoted liberal), but so saddened at what their motivation had been.
11
Thank you for being willing to be the change you want in the world. Yes, you've been called into an experience, but you could have turned down the opportunity it presents. I, and the rest of the world, are going to benefit from your willingness to pick up the challenge, to move us forward. Keep going!
97
Bravo, bravo, bravo - no retreat, no surrender! Keep walking that walk and don't be surprised when the line of those walking with you gets bigger and bigger.
201
@Mr. M ike
Ray Charles sings to you , Emma. He sings "You'll Never
Walk Alone" . Amen ,Ray, amen.
I think Emma is a blessing on us all.
1
I am so grateful to you, Cameron Kasky, David Hogg and all Parkland survivors and families, who are keeping the issue of sensible gun control and the critical importance of voting in November in the public arena. Your courage and determination to make a difference give me hope.
356
Thank you for continuing to share your story. People are listening. I am so sorry for your pain. Peace be with you.
125
This is incredible! Thank you for this beautiful piece and for all you are doing. I am rooting for you and inspired by you.
286
Thanks. On day when things feel so dark and our country is so lost, it was inspiring to read this.
379
@L. Nelson
Thank you for saying this, L. Nelson. This has been a frustrating and very, very sad week of seemingless endless blah-blah-blah, with very little conscience, heart, or spine coming from those who supposedly lead this country. Emma, you and your friends/colleagues offer energy and hope. Stay the course! Admiration, gratitude, and love be with you.
9
Amazing. I have shared this with all the young people in my life.
83
"I also cry a lot. But crying is healthy and it feels good." Now my eyes are wet. Reading news seems to do that.
1