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March for Our Lives - Charlotte 2018

This digital exhibit represents the opinions and emotions surrounding March For Our Lives, Charlotte, on March 24, 2018. The Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room [1] of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library has digitally compiledsigns that were donated to it by March For Our Lives, Charlotte, participants. These signs were on display on the first floor of the library for two months after the event took place.

 

Images of 38 of these signs may be viewed in the Gallery at the bottom of this page.

It is the mission of the Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room to preserve historical materials. In recognition of the fact that history is being made every day, we collect recent artifacts that reflect on the community. This collection of signs, as well as the production of this digital exhibit, has been created to remember the event itself and to promote discussion of its importance in our city's history, its impact on Charlotte, and its impact on our nation.

On February 14, 2018, a shooter opened fire in Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing seventeen students and faculty members and injuring seventeen others. This shooting surpassed the Columbine High School massacre of April 20, 1999 and became the deadliest shooting at a high school in the history of the United States. In the days and weeks following, Stoneman Douglas students took to media platforms to speak out against the gun violence that had occurred within the walls of their school, and the gun violence that was occurring in the United States.

 

Four days after the deadly shooting, students from Stoneman Douglas announced that they would be “marching for their lives” on March 24, 2018. Organizers promised to keep the voices of students at the center of the movement by involving teens and future voters in the march and its planning. Stoneman Douglas Junior, Cameron Kasky, stated in an interview that, “One of the things that we've been hearing is that it’s not the time yet to talk about gun control. So here’s the time that we’re going to talk about gun control: March 24.” (Charlotte Observer, 3/26/2018)Ann Doss Helms and Lavendrick Smith, "“Fix this disgraceful issue!” Students lead big Charlotte rally against gun violence" Charlotte Observer, May 26, 2018 While planning for the march in Washington D.C. took place, 800 cities across the United States began to plan their own marches. Charlotte was among those cities.

 

On March 24, 2018, while people packed the streets of Washington, D.C, First Ward park in uptown Charlotte saw an estimated 2,500 people speaking out against gun violence and advocating for politicians to act. Students from Charlotte schools spoke out against the violence and voiced their own concerns and fears.

 

March For Our Lives events did not end in 2018 or with the large events held on March 24, 2018. Across the United States of America there are hundreds of chapters, and two within the city of Charlotte.

March For Our Lives events have been held since the large events that took place across the nation in March of 2018. March For Our lives events have also been held after other school shootings, as a way for the impacted community to stand up against gun violence together and recognize the tragic events that happened in their own towns and cities.

 

One of those cities is our own. On April 30th, 2019, a shooter opened fire in a classroom on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This shooter took the lives of two students, Riley Howell and Ellis "Reed" Parlier, and injured four students: Rami Al-Ramadhan, Sean DeHart, Drew Pescaro, and Emily Houpt. On May 3rd, the Charlotte community joined together to hold a March For Our Lives rally that took place both on campus and in Uptown Charlotte. The community and students wore green and white and called State and Federal Legislatures to respond to gun violence at the university and nationwide.

 

Exhibit & Section: 
March for Our Lives, March 24, 2018 [2]
Main Image: 
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "It's not raining, we're crying."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "United Students of America"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Protect our children, not our guns."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Hugs, not guns"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Protect kids"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Time for a national conversation"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Congress: Listen to the people!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Guns r bad"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Protect kids, not guns."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Vote to protect children, not guns."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Enough"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "18th-century laws can't regulate 21st-century weapons."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "You can't build peace with a piece."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "My thoughts are about tougher gun laws, and my prayers are that Congress will represent me and finally do something."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Bump stock this [peace sign] and this [heart]! Not guns!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Less devastation, more legislation"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Protect our kids, not guns."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "End gun violence. #enough"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Make America safe again."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Congress: You're not ballot-proof. Sensible gun reform now!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Enough is Enough."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Our voices will be heard louder than any gun."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "46 kids shot every day in America"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Fear has no place in schools."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "One child is worth all the guns in the world."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "'Democracy will not come through compromise and fear.' - Langston Hughes"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Alyssa, Scott, Martin, Nicholas, Aaron, Jaime, Chris, Luke, Cara, Gina, Joaquin, Alaina, Meadow, Helena, Alex, Carmen, Peter and 3,125 gun deaths in 2018. They're why we're here."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Stop gun violence."
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Protect kids! Not guns!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "I want to live in a country where our children are not afraid to go to school. #neveragain #prayingforvictims"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "[Not] Thoughts [Not] Prayers [Yes] Action [Yes] Change"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "I want a future!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Change is now. No more fear!"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "Am I next?"
Charlotte March for Our Lives, 2018. Sign reads: "If I grow up, I want to be a journalist."
This node displays related exhibits: 
No
Event Date Field: 
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Date of Event:


Source URL:https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/march-our-lives-march-24-2018/march-our-lives-charlotte-2018

Links
[1] https://www.cmlibrary.org/services/genealogy-history-services [2] https://www.cmstory.org/exhibits/march-our-lives-march-24-2018