ATLANTA – On Saturday, young people across the country will, as they describe it, “march for our lives” to call for change in school safety and gun laws.
Four of Atlanta’s Civil Rights warriors – Amb. Andrew Young, Elisabeth Williams Omilami, Congressman John Lewis, and Rev. Bernice King – who know first-hand how powerful marches can be spoke with 11Alive about how they believe Saturday’s march will impact the community and nation.
“I’m just fascinated to see what they do,” Ambassador Andrew Young said.
Young, who marched and campaigned with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., said he is in awe of the country’s high school students as they plan their peaceful profession of faith in collective, political, and moral strength.
“Dr. King always said that unearned suffering is redemptive. These young people in Parkland have been the victims of tremendous suffering, which they did not earn, but they are about to continue Dr. King’s work of redeeming the soul of America,” Young said. “And their classmates are going to see to that... I think that's the way change occurs.... Their response has been measured, it's been rational, it's been disciplined. And I think they're thinking about what they're doing."
Elisabeth Williams Omilami agreed with Young.
“It was always the young people that made the biggest difference, that made the sacrifice,” she said.
Omilami, a human rights advocate from Atlanta and the daughter of Dr. King’s top agitator for change, Hosea Williams, sees in today’s young people the passion and the insight to know that they are not just leading marches for a day, but a movement that will last a generation.
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"See, it’s a difference in a one-day march and a movement. A movement has a beginning and then you stick with it, you have mass rallies every night,” Omilami said. “You stay with it until that particular issue is resolved. So how long are they going to stay with this? I think they will be there. But I want to make sure -- I wonder, do they have the right leadership to really make the change that they need to make.”
These students have said they’re marching for a change, and Congressman John Lewis said they will lead the way for America.
“These brave, smart children, they will lead the way,” Rep. John Lewis (D) GA, said.
Lewis is a survivor of the Civil Rights movement who is still marching, and he will be marching with the young people in Atlanta on Saturday. Proudly, he said. He remembers all that his generation tried to accomplish.
“I think the marches that these young children will be leading will have the same effect or maybe a greater impact,” Lewis said. “These are the leaders of the 21st Century.”
Bernice King, Dr. King’s youngest child, encourages the students to “not give up.”
King is teaching non-violent social change to the next generations and sees in today’s movement that the demands of the young people are still coming into focus -- the demands to end school-place and gun violence.
“I think the students need to craft exactly what it is they want,” King said. “And it’s gonna take some stick-to-it-iveness, some longevity, and guarding one’s heart. So that they don’t become discouraged. Because the resistance will be great.... What they're up against is monumental. It's a giant.”
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King added that “victory is not always swift.”
“It’s a long haul, but you must never give up, or give in,” Lewis said.
The leaders’ hope is that Washington will come to believe that this is the voice, and the will, of the people, and the voters of tomorrow.
“It could be the struggle of a lifetime,” Lewis said.
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