Getting old can really be a pain. But, as my youngest son said to me 20 years ago, “Watch your complaining, Mom. Old age is a privilege denied to many.” Isn’t that the truth.
I confess, it was a bit painful last Saturday to stand and march for almost three hours at Acacia Park in Colorado Springs as part of the national March for Our Lives rally. It was also invigorating and inspiring and energizing. As an “older” person, I now have the time and fewer of the social “restrictions” my adult children have in showing up to political or socially inspired marches and protests. I won’t lose my job, or friends, or business if I am seen or if my picture is posted in the newspaper.
There was a time, though, when I was young enough to lose. And I did. In the 1970s, I lost my first real boyfriend when my older brother invited us to join some friends on an anti-war march in Denver. I was devastated when his father found out and made him break up with me; I was 13.
40 years later I was shamed out of a book club for (finally!) speaking up against the Iraq War. We had just read The Forever War, a pulitzer prize winner written by Dexter Filkins in 2009. In truth, I kicked myself out, because after being verbally attacked by the Republicans in the group when I read a quote directly from the book, I just lost it. It was a book that they all liked, but they sure didn't like that quote — it was something like “the biggest lies we tell are the lies we tell ourselves” and the selection was less than complimentary to Dick Cheney. Nearly half those women were democrats, some I had known for 20 years. Not a one single one spoke up as I was bashed.
A year or two before this happened, as strong Obama campaigners and supporters, my husband and I had made a decision to “come out of the closet” in our home city and live publically as liberals — and we did feel a backlash. But our kids had all grown and I was no longer teaching, and we were basically okay with losing the “friends” we ended up losing. Still, several years ago we found a way to move to a small mountain community an hour or so away, and we love the solitude and peace. We’ve heard there are just as many, if not more, conservatives up here. But we don’t care anymore. We are who we are. We’re old now and we don’t have to care, (especially since we’re easy-going, quiet and white.)
We marched in The Women’s March in Colorado Springs on January 21, 2017. It’s the nearest city to us and most of our kids and grandchildren still live there. We showed up early, when just a handful of organizers were there. The local media had not promoted it at all, and only 300 people were expected. 7,000 showed up. The city itself could not believe it. They were not prepared, which caused delays, which allowed more people to gather. It was incredible. It got a lot of press after. Our kids were proud of us. But we marched without them.
At the next rally we attended last August, “Solidarity with Charlottesville,” three of our grown children and a son-in-law joined us. That rally was organized by Unite Colorado Springs, but it was REALLY hard to find out about it ahead of time. If not for Daily Kos, and The Resistance I would not even have known about it! We have 3 local news stations, none of whom mentioned it until after the fact, and one award-winning daily paper, who like-wise failed to publicize it. I felt sure this was not an accident.
So as the local March For Our Lives rally approached (which I signed up for through DK) I carefully monitored the Springs’ media. This critical social event was barely mentioned by any of the 4 media outlets in Colorado Springs ahead of time. (They did cover the national movement.) Blackout? I believe so. Of course, on the actual day, 2,000 people showed up with signs and determination and passion. So did the media. Still, that evening, the pro-gun rally in nearby Woodland Park that had less than 30 people in attendance got equal or more coverage from the television news stations. That’s pretty revealing.
And then there was the fake media. Some guy wandered around with a camera and a microphone and fake news emblem trying to agitate people. He was good at his job. We were warned by a couple that he might try to use these clips on right-wing websites, but how were people to know? I saw him getting some young people pretty upset. Is there a law against this? There were actual children in many of these shots.
Finally, there were the bible thumpers. I saw four, and this was really sad. Posted at intervals around the march route, these guys each held a bible and an elevated place where they aggressively spouted some scripture (couldn’t hear what) alongside their signs that said “Abortion kills more children than...” They were largely ignored and chanted over as people passed by. I can think now, after the fact, of what I wished I had said to them. “Please, join us, if you mean what you say. For, if ever there was a pro-life march, this is it.” Then again, they were not there to listen.
There were only 3 negatives, (media blackout, fake media, bible thumpers) in our entire experience. Suggestions on how to circumvent, prevent or prepare for these issues are welcome.
The positives were amazing. There were people registering voters, Moms Demand Action sign ups, teachers and educators standing up for their students, grandparents, parents, kids, students, and lots of energy and hope. We are not stopping. We have only just begun.
*One last thing — many gun owners do not even know what these students are asking. PLEASE share with those you know the simple, common-sense gun safety reforms that make up their platform.
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*These are the 3 demands of the March for Our Lives Movement:
We support the right of law-abiding Americans to keep and bear arms, as set forth in the United States Constitution.
But with that right comes responsibility.
We call on all the adults in Congress elected to represent us, to pass legislation that will protect and save children from gun violence.
Our elected officials MUST ACT by:
1. Passing a law to ban the sale of assault weapons like the ones used in Las Vegas, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, Aurora, Sandy Hook and, most recently, to kill 17 innocent people and injure more than a dozen others at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Of the 10 deadliest shootings over the last decade, seven involved the use of assault weapons.
No civilian should be able to access these weapons of war, which should be restricted for use by our military and law enforcement only. These guns have no other purpose than to fire as many bullets as possible and indiscriminately kill anything they are pointed at with terrifying speed.
2. Prohibiting the sale of high-capacity magazines such as the ones the shooter at our school—and so many other recent mass shootings used.
States that ban high-capacity magazines have half as many shootings involving three or more victims as states that allow them.
Limiting the number of bullets a gun can discharge at one time will at least force any shooter to stop and reload, giving children a chance to escape.
3. Closing the loophole in our background check law that allows dangerous people who shouldn’t be allowed to purchase firearms to slip through the cracks and buy guns online or at gun shows.
97 percent of Americans support closing the current loopholes in our background check system.
When Connecticut passed a law requiring background checks on all handgun sales, they saw a 40 percent reduction in gun homicides.
22 percent of gun sales in this country take place without a background check. That’s millions of guns that could be falling into dangerous hands.
A background check should be required on every gun sale, no exceptions.
The children of this country can no longer go to school in fear that each day could be their last.