See Girl Be Heard performing at last weekend's March for Our Lives in Washington D.C..
Girl Be Heard (girlbeheard.org), the nonprofit theatre company that develops, amplifies, and celebrates the voices of youth through socially conscious theatre-making, performed an original work, inspired by the courage of Parkland students, to rally youth and their families to join the movement to end gun violence.
Meet The Cast:
Girl Be Heard Student Artists/Activists
Laura Richmond (17)
Jordan Sanchez (16)
Christiana Kallon (17)
Nicoleta Mensah (17)
Jamie Saunders (20)
Quotes from Girl Be Heard Student Artists/Activists
"It is an honor to perform at the March for Our Lives benefit with my sisters from Girl Be Heard," says Laura Richmond, age 17. "It is up to me and my fellow constituents from across the United States to be the voice of change. If those in power won't advocate to protect us, then we must to do it ourselves."
"On the morning of March 14, I noticed a change in the American youth," says Jordan Sanchez, who hails from a high school in the Bronx. "After countless shootings and 'thoughts and prayers,' we all realized it was up to us to make the change we wanted to see. Our youth-led movement can't just end with the walkout, it has to continue on, and this is the perfect opportunity for me to keep the momentum going."
"We need real change in regard to the gun laws in this country," says Jamie Saunders, age 20. "I am here to stand in solidarity with the students who have been brave enough to speak and stand up for justice, safety, and reform."
"As we mourn with those who lost loved ones as a direct result of America's obsession with guns, we implore our policymakers to get off their delusional arses and conjure up REAL compassion, integrity, and common sense to put an end to our country's demonic cycle of gun violence by passing gun safety laws," says Jessica Greer Morris, CEO and Co-Founder of Girl Be Heard."
The voices of students, gun violence survivors, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School alumni will be amplified throughout the evening. The concert will benefit Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, the country's largest gun violence prevention organization, and Giffords, the gun violence prevention organization founded by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and Captain Mark Kelly.
I.M.P., Everytown for Gun Safety, and Giffords thank Ariel Emmanuel,CEO of Endeavor (the holding company for WME, IMG, and UFC); Puma; and Red Bull for their generous donations which will provide Stay Amped tickets to hundreds of students who are coming to Washington, D.C. to participate in March for Our Lives.
In the wake of the recent mass shooting that brutally cut short 17 lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and wounded more than a dozen others, organizers of the student-led March for Our Lives demands that lawmakers act to end gun violence in all its forms.
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