Emma González Leads a Student Outcry on Guns: ‘This Is the Way I Have to Grieve’ The New York Times, Feb. 18, 2018 They shouted into a microphone until their voices became hoarse. They waved handmade signs. They chanted. And sometimes, in the middle of it all, they choked up. At the federal courthouse here on Saturday, students — including many of the very people who had to endure the trauma of a shooting on campus — continued to speak out about guns. Since Wednesday, when a gunman killed 14 students and three staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, their youthful voices have resonated where those of longtime politicians have largely fallen flat. And on Saturday, another young woman’s words captivated the nation. Speaking publicly at the rally, Emma González, a senior, pledged that her school would be the site of the nation’s last mass shooting. How could she know? Because, she said, she and her peers would take it upon themselves to “change the law.” “The people in the government who are voted into power are lying to us,” she said. “And us kids seem to be the only ones who notice and are prepared to call B.S*.” “They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence — we call B.S.!” she continued as a chorus of supporters echoed her. “They say a good guy with a gun stops a bad guy with a gun — we call B.S.! They say guns are just tools like knives and are as dangerous as cars — we call B.S.! They say that no laws could have been able to prevent the hundreds of senseless tragedies that have occurred — we call B.S.! That us kids don’t know what we’re talking about, that we’re too young to understand how the government works — we call B.S.!” She wiped her eyes aggressively. Then, she urged the people in the crowd to register to vote — and to give their elected officials “a piece of your mind.” Just hours later, one video of the speech had been viewed more than 100,000 times. In a telephone interview early Sunday, Ms. González, 18, said she was surprised by the enthusiastic reaction to her speech. Ms. González said she was encouraged to speak out, in part, by other supportive people in her community, especially those who she said do not yet feel comfortable talking publicly. “This is my whole world now,” she said. “I cannot allow myself to stop talking about this.” A person Ms. González met at a party was killed in the shooting, she said; another person she has known for “an incredibly long time” is still in the hospital. “Everybody needs to understand how we feel and what we went through, because if they don’t, they’re not going to be able to understand why we’re fighting for what we’re fighting for,” Ms. González said. She noted that some have criticized students for raising their voices, suggesting that they take the time to grieve instead. “This is the way I have to grieve,” Ms. González said. “I have to make sure that everybody knows that this isn’t something that is allowed to happen.” B.S. = “nonsense” (a swear word, in full: bullsh**)
