Marching For Our Lives in Washington

By Bianca Vucetich, Junior

Photo by Bianca Vucetich

After iPrep’s March 14th participation in the #Enough walkout, the Miami Music Project (MMP)  offered the opportunity for 10 people from iPrep to attend the Washington March For Our Lives, all expenses paid. Sarah Zeleya, Dyuna Soledad, Sara Shedroff, Olivia Ruiz, Ms.Pedroso, Danielle Pedroso, Catherine Padilla, Nacey Fernandez, Tiffany Dang and I happily took the opportunity to join MMP the students and staff  at the March For Our Lives Protest in Washington D.C.. A day before the protest everyone loaded onto the bus for a very fascinating road trip from Miami to Washington D.C.; we prepared ourselves for the cold. After 20 hours on the bus, with many stops for fuel and food, we finally made it to D.C. the afternoon of March 24th feeling the cold Washington D.C. air as we rushed to join our fellow protesters at the March For Our Lives.

Seeing Washington D.C. and the piled snow on the sidewalks was quite an experience, but the march itself was unforgettable. I will never forget that I was part of something so great and meaningful. Our group realized that by pulling in our ranks to join and protest, we’ve left our mark on history as part of the largest national youth protest that America has ever seen (an estimate of 1,200,000 - 2,000,000 people joined and was the 3rd largest national protest in US history in general).
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There were many beautiful performances and powerful speeches that on the March For Our Lives stage; the last and unforgettable speech was made by Emma Gonzalez.  My experience hearing Gonzalez’s speech live, as one in that massive crowd, can only be expressed in poetry. The experience has turned into a movie (in my mind) where the world had changed for the better.

This poem is dedicated to Emma’s pain and courage, as we (the spectators in the crowd) realized  that she delivered that speech in order to inspire and ignite change for the better.

​"Echoing Silence"
Surrounded by countless people.
Waves of signs standing tall and proud,
the chanting was absorbed by the cold air.
Everyone stands ready for the one who called BS.

Emma takes the stage and our attention.
Her face bearing the past for our future,
the crowd falls silent as Emma starts:
“6 minutes and about 20 seconds.”

Shooting straight to the point,
Emma reveals the verity of the situation.
Every word she shared with the world,
as she attempts to describe the indescribable.

As one gripped by the cold hands of gun violence,
Emma extends her experience for the world to learn.
She reminds us that she is merely one of many,
the too many whose suffered with pain and loss.

From commemoration Emma carries each name,
great sorrow and grief wrapped around them.
Parkland victims live through once more,
the dark time of fear and loss.

Intensity grows by how each would ‘never’,
since each bullet showed them the end.
For shorter and shorter are the dead’s moments,
as their lives will never get to be long.

An abrupt silence follows the intense feeling of loss.
Honoring what was and mourning what could never be.
Understanding seems to wash over the crowd,
as it follows behind the acknowledgment of silence.

The presence of silence is inescapable,
even with fleeting attempts of wavering chants.
Slowly and surely, unity presents itself as a result.
The crowd comes one when the moment counts.

One by one, the hands of peace floats above heads.
The wave of peace flows over as it surrounds everything.
I stand there as I realize that wherever I turn to,
I could see the best of humanity facing me.

Emma’s brave face struggles to hold back the waterfall,
though too overwhelmed to stop the leaks from the vast cataract.
The hands stay up for the world to see the unity of peace,
silence accompanies it till Emma’s last deliverance.

She reveals that it was that same silence which once held fear.
Now it held understanding, unity, and urgency for change.
There it occured the unforgettable moment of silence,
which will forever echo within our hearts and minds.

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