It transpired more than 1,000 miles away, but the mass shooting that killed 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, on February 14 hit close to home for Jaden Gray. The 18-year-old Lincoln Park High School senior thought of Cesar—the friend from dance class who was lost in a fatal shooting outside Curie Metro High School in June.
There are 2,545 different walkouts planned around the country, according to Empower’s website, including a bunch at schools in the city of Chicago. The walkouts are scheduled to last 17 minutes, one minute for each person who died in the mass shooting. What each student body does during those 17 minutes is ultimately up to them.
“It’s inspirational to see the Parkland kids leading forums and keeping politicians accountable,” she says. “I would love for students here to be more civically engaged from this. Here in Chicago, there’s a lot of money going towards the cop academy. We need more money for schools and away from guns, police, and prisons.”
