As a politically active parent, my daughter is used to hearing my political views and seeing me be active in local politics. It’s what her dad does. I’ve never dragged her along or pushed her to do these types of things. But as a parent, nothing makes me prouder than when she decided she wanted to go to her first march.
Like many local communities, March for Our Lives had a march sponsored locally in Downers Grove Illinois, kicking off at Downers Grove North High School. She wanted to be involved, but wasn’t sure what to expect. She participated in the walk out on March 14th, which her high school allowed students to do without consequence, even taking advantage of the “disruption” to the school day to take advantage of the unique learning experience for all students. But to take the step to go beyond participating with her friends at her school to being a part of meaningful protest like March for Our Lives today was a new step for her. She was curious and a little fearful, but wanted to be part of history more than sitting by and watching. So we were glad to take her with us to the march.
We parked in downtown and walked past the handful of rabid second amendment counter protestors. They had set up on a corner near the train tracks where the march would end and wrapped themselves in the American flag ready for a fight. They looked agitated and agressive. But they were penned in behind barricades and outnumbered by the police presence there. We ignored them, as did everyone else walking by, and made our way to Downers Grove North High School where the march was set to kickoff.
The day was a beautiful Chicago spring day: Overcast with 35 degrees with a gusting wind making it feel more like 25 degrees. It was really cold and unpleasant weather and I was concerned that this might depress turn out. The Facebook group for the Downers Grove march had 700 people confirmed to attend. As we walked to the marshall point at the high school with the cold wind whipping our faces I was hoping there would be at least half that, given the brutal wind.
Boy was I wrong.
People were dressed for the weather or didn’t care. They came from the four directions to gather in the school parking lot as various speakers addressed the crowed. We arrived half way through the pre-march speeches and were quickly swallowed up by the continual arrivals that followed us. I did a quick unscientific head-count and estimated the crowd at somewhere between 750-1000 people. My daughter was surprised at the various types of people there, expecting it to be more students than adults.
The students who organized the event spoke to the crowd and introduced several political candidates from the area. Sean Casten who will take on Peter Roskam in IL-06 spoke to the love behind the march, pride in the student organizers, and the need to take on those in DC like Roskam. I was really happy to see Casten speak at the event, as this area of DuPage County put him over the finish line in the Democratic primary a week ago. He’ll be the one taking on Roskam (NRA IL-06), so please say thanks for his speech and help him defeat Roskam here.
Bill Foster (IL-11) spoke about the NRA and their strangle hold on Republican lawmakers — pointing out a sign that highlighted the $20,000+ that Roskam had taken from the NRA. Foster also highlighted that legislation is offered by Democrats regularly to enact sensible gun restrictions which never is even brought to a vote or blocked by Republicans. A student from Sandyhook talked about how thankful he was that his parents had moved just prior to the shooting there as his mom worked in the room where most of the children were killed as she would surely have been killed as well.
Then the march kicked off and started the ¾ mile walk to the downtown Downers Grove train station. I think people were waiting in their cars for this point as the number of people swelled significantly, with the march eventually stretching out over a half a mile in length, filling Main Street Downers Grove from side to side. The organizers spoke of the counter-protesters at the end of the march and the need to ignore them rather than taking their bait to engage them in a screaming match. My daughter walked along looking side to side, seeing all the different people walking with us. There were small children with signs, one lady with a walker, parents with strollers, old, young, you name it. She wasn’t so sure about the chanting, and was actively shocked when I joined in to the “NRA has got to go...” chant. I think I embarrassed her a little.
As we reached the downtown area and the counter protesters, the chant of “Enough is Enough” became louder and echoed through the whole march. Organizers worked the edge of the crowd to remind people to just ignore the counter protesters. By the time we reached them, they were in a lather screaming at the crowd that now dwarfed their handful and was quickly surrounding them just by the very nature of the location where the march ended. One man in front of me became angry at the taunts and started to react, but was quickly moved along by the police in front of the protesters. My favorite line was from an older women counter-protester who was screaming at us “Don’t expect me to protect any of you...” I think we need protecting from people like you lady.
When we arrived home after the march, my daughter watched some of the coverage of the nation march with us with unusual interest. Like most teenagers, she tunes out when we put on the news. But not this time. She watched with interest and started texting her friends to see if they had marched in other local marches, being pleased that another had marched with her parents in downtown Chicago.
She marched and I was most proud that she wasn’t going along, but wanted to march. She can now look back on this day and remember she was a part of history, as this march will certainly be remembered. She’ll be old enough to vote in primaries leading up to 2020. After today, I’m certain she looks forward to it.