Wednesday has been a day to say #NeverAgain.
It’s the day student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, swarmed their state capitol in Tallahassee, exactly one week after a shooting at their school left 17 classmates and staff dead.
They were joined in spirit by students from around the country who organized dozens of walkouts, from Washington, D.C. to Illinois to Colorado and back to Florida again.
Here are some of these rallies’ most powerful words.
Lorenzo Prado, Parkland school shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
“To let these victims’ lives be taken without any change in rerturn is an act of treason to our great country.”
“What we must do now is enact change because that is what we do to things that fail: We change them.”
Florence Yared, Parkland school shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
“The right to bear arms … does not and never will overpower the individual’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
“We cannot protect our guns before we protect our children.”
Delaney Tarr, Parkland school shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
“We’ve had enough of thoughts and prayers…To every lawmaker out there: No longer can you take money from the NRA. No longer can you fly under the radar doing whatever it is that you want to do … We are coming after every single one of you and demanding that you take action.”
Jamie Raskin, Maryland congressman, in Washington
“America’s high school students are leading a revolution against political complacency and collusion with the NRA. And I want you to know that you are not only acting in solidarity with the students from Parkland … but you are acting in the finest tradition of America’s young people who have always stood up to change America when nobody else would do it.”
Brandon Wolf, Pulse nightclub shooting survivor, in Tallahassee
“After first graders were gunned down at Sandy Hook, what did you do? Not a damn thing. After 49 people, including my two brothers, were murdered at Pulse, what did you do? Not a damn thing. You plugged your ears and turned your eyes and hoped that we would stop talking. Now we’re here again. 17 people are dead. 14 of them are children. And what did you do yesterday when given the chance to do something about it? Not a damn thing.”