March for Our Lives, March 2018

It was windy, cold and gray this morning in St. Paul, but at least it wasn't snowing, as had been predicted. Organizers of our local March for Our Lives decided to start at 9:30 a.m., so it didn't have a chance to warm up much. Like lots of other people, I took a packed Green Line train to the Capitol.


I made two signs to bring along:


This message has been on my mind, especially since reading this Scientific American article, Why are white men stockpiling guns?

My second sign:


Doing my bit to highlight one of the realities of our country, which more white people need to learn about.

The march organizers did a great job. There were students from Marjorie Stoneman Davis High School at many of the marches around the country. St. Paul hosted the MSD hockey team, of all things. One student told the story of being trained to paint herself with her injured or dead friends' blood so she could better pretend to already be dead.

I don't know who planned and built the giant ENOUGH and positioned it in the perfect place for photos at the end of the Capitol grounds:


But it was a great idea and was well-used. 

I didn't take a lot of photos (for me), but here are a few.


The guy with the yellow sign had multiple different sheets on a clipboard, all making the connection between police violence against black people. He changed the sheets over time, but this one was particularly good: "TAMIR RICE was a STUDENT killed by police."


I like a specific policy sign, and this one covered two topics that get lost in the midst of discussion of background checks and assault weapon bans.


This woman made the point, What about the "right to bear children that aren't shot"? Good point.


This group of signs was particularly moving.


And a close up of one of the smaller signs there.


Erik Paulsen and Jason Lewis are two Republican members of Congress who represent suburban Twin Cities districts that voted for Hilary Clinton. Paulsen, particularly, has been an NRA lapdog who pretends to be a moderate. (Lewis is only in his first term, and I hope he's a one-termer.) Watch for them to lose their seats this fall.


This must have been the clever acronym section: No Rational Action and Guns Oligarchs Pedophiles.


As I headed out, I saw this guy with his white cane. His sign is a bit small, but it reads, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a Congressman with a spine."

I guess there were about 18,000 people at the Capitol today. One of the recurring chants was "Vote them out."