On Saturday morning, Bruce Nevin looked up a list of school shootings in the United States on Wikipedia. He planned to print it out to bring to the March for Our Lives demonstration at Five Corners. The list was more than 40 pages long.
“I was astonished,” he said. “It really brings it home, the enormity.”
He made the type smaller and printed out eleven pages of tiny script. He taped the pages together in a kind of solemn banner, and with the help of a few others, held them up throughout the demonstration, facing the intersection in Vineyard Haven.
There were more than 800 March for Our Lives demonstrations around the world Saturday. The day of protest was orchestrated by the survivors of last month’s school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. That shooting left 17 dead. The demonstrations called attention to a grave problem — the murder of children in schools — but there was a sense of optimism and energy at Five Corners Saturday.
“I am so proud of our community,” said Binnie Ravitch of West Tisbury, one of about 150 people at the demonstration. She wore a pink “pussy hat” made popular at last year’s Women’s March. “And I’m so proud of those kids from Parkland. It’s their turn to have their say.”
Zoe Turcotte stood nearby with a sign that read “#ArmMeWith National Gun Reform” alongside a red apple. She teaches science, technology, and engineering at the West Tisbury school. She said arming teachers with firearms is not the answer. Due to school shootings, though, she has to consider the possibility of an intruder entering the building while she is teaching. The children have to think about it too.
“We have to practice drills,” she said. “We try not to scare the children of course, but we have to be prepared.”
She’s taught at the West Tisbury school since 2010, and said many of her former students had traveled with the Martha’s Vineyard contingent to the national march in Washington D.C.
“I’m inspired by my students,” she said.
There were chants of “Peace not guns,” and “If Australia can do it, we can do it.” Several people remarked that they hadn’t ever seen such a crowd at Five Corners. Drivers honked continuously as they traveled through the busy intersection. Two alpacas even made an appearance wearing signs that said “Alpacas for peace!”
There were droves of adults and some young children at Five Corners, but there weren’t many teenagers present. Many were demonstrating off-Island. More than 100 spent the day demonstrating in Washington D.C. after taking an overnight bus Friday night.
Keith Chatinover, a senior at the charter school, was the lead organizer of the trip.
“It was loud and it was joyous and sad and emotional and just everything,” he said in a message to the Gazette. “Everyone [on the trip] that I talked to said that they plan on being more involved, registering to vote, and that this was either one of the most important or moving days of their lives.”
Alex Rego, a sophomore at the high school, confirmed that. She said she was moved by speeches from shooting survivors like Emma Gonzalez.
“The best and most empowering part of today was definitely being among a seemingly never-ending crowd of like-minded people. It was an eye-opening reminder of how much good exists in our nation and how we are all truly bound by compassion,” she wrote in another message to the Gazette.
Owen Engler, a junior at the regional high school who went to the capitol, said he was heartened by the Island community collaboration to make the trip possible
“[A] great moment was first walking onto the mall with the whole group together, all holding signs representing the students of Martha’s Vineyard well and giving our schools and our community a voice in the capitol of our nation,” he said. “It was amazing to see first hand how committed Vineyard kids are to this issue and to see kids from all towns on the Island stand up and demand the right to be heard.”
He added: “Today, I feel, many of us found our voice. It was empowering and amazing to watch.”
At Five Corners, Marjory Potts of West Tisbury and Cindy Kane of Vineyard Haven said they were in awe of young people taking action.
“This warms my heart,” said Ms. Kane, gesturing to the crowd. “I mean look at this.”
“Those kids are so articulate, they blew me away,” Ms. Potts said. “They’re going to lead us.”
More photos from the March for Our Lives rally on Martha's Vineyard.
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