In my last “Point of View” post, I asked where the real leaders were in our country and if they would stand up to a growing socio-political climate of incivility, hate, bullying, intolerance etc. I pleaded for the clergy, leaders of social justice organizations, corporate leaders, and former politicians to come forward with louder voices of protest. I asked that those in powerful positions stand up and speak up more against this painful new normal in which we tolerate, and in many cases accept, blatant injustice.
Little did I suspect that the real leaders would manifest in the form of teenagers – young people not even old enough to vote – who would be the ones to declare, “We are mad as hell and we are not going to take it anymore.” The school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was the breaking point. Seventeen more innocent people were gunned down at the hands of a deranged teenager, yet another young man who was crying for help and was failed by the system.
A number of MSD High School students began protesting immediately following the tragedy, demanding that something be done to ensure student safety. They called for increased gun control measures. They met with and continue to elevate the voices of student gun control advocates in Chicago, one of the places most affected by gun violence in U.S., demonstrating that they understand the necessity of intersectionality and the impact of marginalization. They even got the attention of President Trump. The White House scrambled to put together a listening session comprised of students and parents impacted directly by the killings. They pressured President Trump to order a Justice Department crack down on bump stocks and propose a better background check system on gun buyers. Corporate leaders responded as well. Dicks Sporting Goods and Walmart will no longer sell assault weapons and will increase the minimum age from 18 to 21 for gun purchases.
On Tuesday, the global advocacy group Avaaz covered the lawn of the U.S. Capitol with 7,000 pairs of shoes to symbolize the 7,000 children killed by gun violence since the 2012 Newtown shooting, an estimate based on data from the Centers for Disease Control that 1,300 children die from gun violence every year.
Yesterday, for at least seventeen minutes beginning at 10 A.M. across each time zone, students, school faculty and supporters around the world walked out of their schools to honor those killed in the massacre at MSD High School and to demand action. Women’s March Youth EMPOWER, the organizers of the demonstration, say the walkout is to “protest Congress’ inaction to do more than tweet thoughts and prayers in response to the gun violence plaguing our schools and neighborhoods.”
All of this because the students in Parkland said, “Enough is enough.” Too many of us are not willing to risk the consequences of speaking up. Kudos to these kids who are. This is what leadership looks like.
I created a definition of leadership in 1995 when I taught a leadership course as the Minnet Professor at The Rochester Institute of Technology:
A leader is someone who has the audacity to take a stand on an unpopular, never heard of, or creative position for the good of the organization, empowers other people to be a part of the vision, and has the faith and stamina to make it happen simply because of the belief that it is the right thing to do.
I believe this definition aptly characterizes the Parkland students and all the students who have joined with them in their cry and actions for change.
