NEW ORLEANS — Near the end of the school day, Tuesday afternoon, instead of a class change, students at Booker T. Washington High School demanded change.
“We are out here, and we want change,” said senior Tanaria Palmer.
A rally and march around their central city campus put students like Palmer front and center. The students want to bring attention to gun violence and work with elected leaders to find solutions.
“A lot of us face gun violence at a young age, and we’re harmed by it. So, we just want to bring our friends, peers, and our family together and let them know we’re not alone and we’re here for each other,” Palmer said.
Student organizers chose gun violence as part of the Aspen Challenge. That’s a nationwide initiative designed to get students involved with real word problems.
The march lined up with a visit from Mayor Latoya Cantrell who joined in. She says young people want to be involved, which is why her administration is focusing on high school students.
“Just having some conversations and dialogue and embedding them in process of how we’re going to make our city safer and keep our city safer,” Cantrell said.
It was only a week ago when someone killed three kids and three adults at a private school in Nashville. Palmer says classroom conversations routinely center around school shootings.
“It’s kind of scary not knowing if you’re going to be able to have a safe day at school or if somebody might get upset and try to shoot the school up,” Palmer said.
Students here are no strangers to gun violence. Back in January, a 16-year-old student was shot in the leg outside this school. In December, Kyron Peters, 19, a Booker T. Washington senior, was shot and killed at a house party in the Lower Ninth Ward.
“This involvement is to show the importance and bring everyone together as a community, as students, as a school,” said senior Frank Williams.
Joined in solidarity with school and city leaders, these students hope this march will be a lesson plan for action, one step at a time.
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