Mayor Bill de Blasio came to Brooklyn’s Edward R. Murrow High School, 1600 Avenue L, this morning to participate in the National School Walkout for stricter gun laws and to protest gun violence.
The mayor joined thousands of students throughout the city, and hundreds of thousands of students throughout the country on the one month anniversary of the shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 students and teachers.
“I appreciate you and I appreciate students all over this city and all over this country who are standing up for change. I have to help you understand one thing, in the decades and decades before this moment, we have never seen anything like what you are doing today. There’s been a fight for change for a long time, but there’s never been a more powerful movement than what the students of Brooklyn and New York City and this nation have done in these last few weeks,” said de Blasio.
“And we need your leadership. We need you because you have shown the kind of leadership that we’ve never seen before. And I am very certain in my heart that change is coming because of you, and I admire you and I appreciated you. Keep fighting,” he added.
City Council Member Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood), was just a little further south in Brooklyn as he joined students at Brooklyn College Academy and Midwood High School in solidarity and support of the cause.
At Brooklyn College Academy, over 100 students lined the West Quad of Brooklyn College Campus and stood in silence for 17 minutes, representing the seventeen students killed at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School. Some held signs calling for action on gun control in general, and protections for students in school specifically. Their silent action resonated across the campus.
At Midwood High School, hundreds of students poured into the schoolyard to protest inaction in the face of gun violence and to memorialize victims. A sea of students knelt as the names and biographies of the students killed in Parkland were read, with the students repeating their stories one by one, in one voice.
“It is truly inspiring to see this generation rising up in protest, taking action on this issue that affects them directly. When they speak, our leaders must listen.” said Williams. “All across the country, these students are saying with one loud, clear voice that enough is enough. Elected officials have a moral responsibility to respond by standing up to the NRA and others who oppose progress in the areas of gun safety, just as these bold students have. From the mass shootings that shake our nation to the tragic, daily gun violence that plagues our streets from Florida to Brooklyn, we must all stand together to effect change. I thank this new generation of leaders for pushing the conversation forward and demanding action.”
Across the borough in Sunset Park, City Council Member Carlos Menchaca (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) met up with students on the corner of 36th Street and 4th Avenue where PS 371 is located to march in solidarity with them.
“Today, thousands of kids in my district, from Pre-K to High School, led demonstrations on their campuses to voice their demands for safer schools and stricter gun control laws during National School Walkout. I joined the walkout on a campus with three schools with over 2,000 students who united in one voice: M.S. 88, P.S. 295 and New Voices,” said Menchaca.
“District 38 youth is prepared to drive this conversation forward. They have policy ideas. They are committed to ensuring that the 14 students and three teachers who lost their lives last month in Parkland are not forgotten. They are determined to share their ideas on how we can work to ensure safety in their schools. This is what real participatory democracy looks like. I’m committed to continue the conversation with these students and to make sure the movement they’ve begun keeps growing stronger. #NeverAgain”
