Students in the Tradition of Marjorie Stoneman Douglas

Thousands of students sit in silence in DC and across the country
in memory of the students killed at Parkland, Florida's
 Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998), the journalist, writer, women's suffragist, fighter for civil rights, and savior of the Florida Everglades, would be weeping for the tragedy that took place at the school named after her in Parkland, Florida.  She would also rejoice that the student survivors of the tragedy, brave and articulate, have found their voice and are using it.  They are speaking out forcefully and directly about an urgent social problem, as Douglas did in her time. They are motivating a new generation.

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I went to google to remind myself of Douglas' legacy. I first learned about her when I moved from DC to Florida and worked for the NEH Florida Humanities Council. I read everything I could about Florida. I read Douglas, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (The Yearling), Zora Neale Hurston (My Eyes were Watching God), mystery writers and nature writers. I traveled the state from Pensacola and the Panhandle to Jacksonville and Orlando, along the Gulf coast from Tampa, across the Tamiami Trail over the Everglades from Naples to Miami, all to absorb Florida's geography, history, folklore, and culture.

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My thoughts returned to Florida when the gruesome story of another mass murder filled the media. Images of Sandy Hook and other shootings with military weapons rose up, along with rage. How long will we tolerate these senseless, unspeakable tragedies?  

The student survivors at Douglas School have some answers. They are arising out of the ashes of this tragedy like a bright Phoenix.  They are revitalizing the gun control movement. They are already making a difference, and giving us hope.

Douglas would be proud of them. She, too, was a fierce and outspoken defender of the causes she believed in. She is best known for the book The Everglades: River of Grass (1947), which redefined the popular conception of the Everglades as a "treasured river instead of a worthless swamp."  It's impact has been compared to that of Rachel Carsen's Silent Spring. From the age of 79 until her death at the grand old age of 108, Douglas was a relentless and fearless crusader for the preservation and restoration of the Everglades. (Wikipedia)

The students at Douglas school are carrying on her tradition of speaking out and standing firm in their beliefs.  A new generation is out to change America for the better. It's our hope for the 21st century and beyond.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/us/school-walkout.html
https://www.vox.com/2018/3/14/17114430/school-walkout-gun-control-photos