My March for Life

In my sophomore year of college, I was a big believer in activism, leading me to work with several activist groups in and around Washington D.C. Then, after the presidential election in 2016, I was turned off, with the feeling that making a big fuss for a few moments is not nearly as satisfying as strategizing real, long term change.

However, even with my reservations, I still felt a moral obligation to be present at the March for Life, the widely-publicized rally resulting from a culmination of years of outrage in the wake of a clear epidemic of gun violence in my own country. Of course, common narratives linked the organizing as the reaction to the February 2018 mass-shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead. Over the course of the next month, victims and their families rose to unanticipated positions of authority on the gun control debate through their contributions of speeches, interviews, and social media postings. Main characters emerged - Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Alex Wind - for their incredible public speaking skills and spicy rebuttals to conservative critics. By the first of March, just two weeks since the shooting, The March for Life had a spot in the national dialouge, with a list of speakers that was growing more diverse each day. By the week of the march, the rally was slated at 4 hours long, and featured performances by A-list celebrities such as Ariana Grande, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Vic Mensa. As schools nationwide pledged their support, estimated attendance ballooned from a few hundreds to a few thousands.

My experience with the Relay for Life was very interesting. The major takeaway for me was the vital role that commercialism plays in the success of the movement. Outside of the celebrity appearances (of which there were many), there was not one speaker who was over the age of 18. Even with the mounting pressure of a whole nation's attention, I found that their message was notably consistent, and the speakers were pretty good throughout. Perhaps the most iconic moment was when one of the lead organizers, Emma Gonzales, led a minute long moment of silence through tears. It was very powerful, and I saw it as an iconic (and unplanned) moment of strong imagery for the movement, capable of upstaging even the A-list celebrity performances.

I experienced the audience that was much more diverse than I expected, and was mixed in mood from angry and somber to excited and even humorous. I spoke with many different people, one who was cosplaying as a sexy and misunderstood Mike Pence, a 'bloody' student, and many, many real high school students, teachers, and parents. In general, the feeling that 'something had to be done' versus not doing anything seemed to really drive many people out onto the streets, even if it was just to show their anger. Like Gonzolas' tearful moment of silence, the March for Life seemed more to me like a public memorial than a targeted policy push, a healthy part of the grieving processes for an exasperated public. The answer to 'what comes next' seemed to be foreshadowed beautifully, as the stage framed the road down Pennsylvania avenue perfectly, the Capitol Building trapped between its wings.