In response to the senseless massacre of 19 young children and two adults at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, a March For Our Lives rally will be held to end gun violence in downtown Pensacola at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 11 in Plaza Ferdinand. Local activists and students will gather for a “sibling march†as part of the March For Our Lives Movement. There will be inspirational speakers, including students, teachers, doctors and gun violence survivors.
The march is one of more than 400 events around the country, led by students and survivors of gun violence in big and small communities. The Pensacola march is not aimed at taking away guns but ending gun violence. This National Day of Action will call on lawmakers to make students’ lives and safety a priority and to pass commonsense gun safety legislation.
Taran Black, a young mental health professional and co-organizer of the march, believes that a peaceful rally will bring the community together while promoting gun safety. He added, “This march is not meant to polarize people but bring us together to promote public safety and sensible gun legislation.â€
University of West Florida senior Alby Clenedennin, the other co-organizer of the event, sat down with Inweekly summer intern Elizabeth Royappa.
When he heard of the shootings in Buffalo and Ulvade, Clenedennin said, “I absolutely broke down into tears thinking about it all again. It’s too much. It’s so incredibly heartbreaking and sad and a failure of our society.”
He got involved with the March for Our Lives movement after the Parkland, Fla. shooting when she was a high school senior. Clenedennin described the Parkland students who helped form the movement as “a bunch of kids who were just sick and tired of feeling like things weren’t changing in this country that needed to change and were the victims of an incredible tragedy.”
He added, “Instead of letting this be something terrible, they decided to spur a movement, which I think is just absolutely incredible.”
Clenedennin expects this weekend’s event to be peaceful. He told Inweekly, “More than anything, our march is about having a conversation about how we can do better for our community.”
