Here is an explanation of why I, just a kid, on March 14 walked out of the school I love and spoke to my peers about the importance of persistence, hope and progress.
Words mean so little these days. Yes, I still cling to them, rubbing the life out of them as one would a smooth stone found far away, but what meaning can be trusted when words are as empty as suits and the men who wear them? Twisted to fit a meaning, thrown in anger, tossed with indifference - politicians and media have perverted one of the things I loved most in this world. Words that meant something were from a time before bullets left those places we never understood - the ones without money, infrastructure or democracy - and entered our homes and holy spaces and workplaces and schools. We are out of time, tears and the words to describe the sentiment of a parent reading a child's final text or children screaming as the legislators who claim to be protectors fail them. So, mourning my loss, I realized it was time to move on. I walked out.
Katherine DallimoreI walked out because words are not good enough anymore. I walked out because I fear that I no longer cry when I hear the words "mass-shooting" or "children dead." The basic purpose of our gathering was to begin to feel again. We needed it because when the epidemic really started to get bad, when we heard about dozens of dead kids, we cried and called it an anomaly and asked for change. I coordinated my school's walkout because by 2018, we've lost hundreds of lives and have run out of tears and time and words and nothing has changed. Desensitization is no excuse for inaction. Systemically, it may be nearly as dangerous as a bullet.
We must acknowledge the horror and magnitude of the situation. We must counteract the reality that fear, division and political alienation have taken over an issue which, as complex as it is, is not simply political. So we did not want to spend our coordinated national walkout talking about what specific policies must change, although I encouraged my peers to challenge each other to consider solutions through researched and respectful discourse. No, we used our 17 minutes to stand in vigilant solidarity with the victims, recognize the tragedy and magnitude of gun violence in schools, and ask our classmates and teachers to reflect on how progress, whether it be cultural, political, broad or local, can be attained.
After working with the Chattanooga Students Leading Change to devise an agenda for action, I was inspired to combine our goals with existing policy goals from other political perspectives.
Passing them to the student body before delivering a speech at the walkout, I watched my friends come alive with idealism and rationality and inspiration and motivation. I also provided everyone with the contact information of our representatives - Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, Sen. Lamar Alexander and Sen. Bob Corker - along with a call script. These men should expect a few thousand calls and letters in the coming days.
I could not be prouder of my community. To the youth and our proponents - whether you plan to contact local legislators, pray for change, protest with justified anger, negotiate quietly or believe the status quo is good enough, I beg you to think, reason and live with empathy. Feel again. Footage and pictures of all of the walkouts around Chattanooga gives me hope. I truly believe that our generation can not only compromise and push back against violence, but can also unite to stimulate progress and improve the lives of all people in our future.
To those who would label me "just a kid": You're right, and I thank God for that, because if being "just a kid" means idealism, resilience and hope, I never want to grow up. If you think my age makes me an unqualified individual to speak on this matter, think again. We are experts in fear, and we are experts in anger; those are two things you have taught us to know so very well.
I walked out because my generation is not going to be labeled by our children as complacent, resentful, ignorant, apathetic or irrelevant. I refuse to allow the cynicism of the world around me rot the hope I have for my country. And the millions of students who walked out with me agree.
Katherine Dallimore, a senior at Baylor School, is one of the coordinators of Chattanooga Students Leading Change.