85,000 Attend March For Our Lives Chicago

CHICAGO, IL — More than 85,000 students and their supporters gathered Saturday for the March for Our Lives on Chicago's Near West Side, event organizers said. Protesters gathered at the park to demand that lawmakers take action to prevent mass shootings. Event speakers put emphasis on violence in Chicago, calling on the massive crowd to "vote out" Illinois politicians who don't take action to prevent gun violence.

Patch is streaming live from the March for Our Lives protest. Watch right here:

Cora Haworth, an 8th grade student at the Academy for Global Citizenship on Chicago's South Side, was central organizer for the city's March for Our Lives protest.

"I am passionate about helping to end gun violence affecting urban areas every day — ending lives of human beings like they mean nothing," Haworth said. "I march so that my five siblings and I will never fall victims to gun violence."

Protester Sally Harris stood proudly alongside her daughter Lynn Mccreadie, her granddaughter Erin Mccreadie and Erin's cousin Brianne Karazsia — three generations of women holding handmade signs that called for government action to prevent gun violence.

"For once I have hope for this country that these kids are standing up — they're not going to give up so that's wonderful," Harris said.

Sarah Jester, a senior at Walter Payton College Prep in Chicago, said many of her fellow students are too young to vote, and March for Our Lives gave them a voice.

"In this larger conversation about gun control and school shootings, we need to be incorporating gun violence in places like Chicago, where it affects people of color at higher rates than majorities," Jester said.

"These acts of violence have been increasing over the years, and it's something that's becoming very unfortunately prevalent in our nation," Jester said. "We haven't seen any real gun control reform passed since Sandy Hook, and we're not seeing any now."

After gathering at 11 a.m. for a rally in Union Park, protesters marched through the neighborhood around the park. The event included performers and speakers, all under the age of 21, organizers said.

"I think that it is so urgent for us as humans and as students to put an end to the violence," said Piper Kilman, a junior at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. "I think it's so ridiculous that there is something that can be stopped, that isn't being stopped."

"The voices for the March for Our Lives are those of the generation that grew up with mass shootings," march organizers said in a statement. "This is the sound of millions of voices across the country pleading for change — we say enough. End the violence."

"There has been more than enough blood, tears, and bullets – one school shooting is a school shooting too many. However, we cannot ignore the gun violence that people in the low income communities of Chicago witness in the streets, in their homes and in their classes every day. Most if not all of these tragedies are preventable."

The movement was started by the Parkland school shooting survivors in Florida; the Chicago march will coincide with marches in Washington, D.C. and many other cities.

Thousands of Chicago students participated in school walkouts March 14 to protest gun violence. The walkouts lasted 17 minutes — one minute for each of the victims killed in the Parkland high school shooting Feb. 14. Many students at Catholic schools throughout Chicago chose to pray for the 17 minutes, while others participated in marches.

Many Chicago teachers, principals, community members and leaders have backed student protesters, tweeting messages of support, assisting in organization and rearranging class schedules to help with protest planning.

March for Our Lives Chicago event speakers:

• Chyann Global- Majority Youth Rising
• Eduardo Medel- Young Urban Professionals
• Denzel Russell, Dontrel Dismuke, Malcolm Russell, Devon Lewis- Kids Off the Block
• Caitlyn Smith
• Juan Reyes- Chicago Student Union

• Performances:
  • Jalen Kobayashi (poet/singer)
  • Hinsdale
  • Kuumba Lynx

More from Patch

• Chicago Students Walk Out Of Class To Protest Gun Violence: Video
• March For Our Lives: Andrew Student Helps Plan Frankfort Rally
• Parkland Shooting: Students Plan March Urging Gun Control

Photos/Videos by Amber Fisher, via YouTube