Amal Clooney, Emma Gonzales, Rick Steves. These are just a few of the influential people who’re standing up to gun violence since the Florida high school massacre on February 14th. Amal Clooney addressed an audience of 6500 women at the Watermark Conference for Women in Silicon Valley just a few days after the mass shooting. Here’s what she said about outspoken high school students, like Emma Gonzalez:
“I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!”
Amal Clooney, Human Rights Lawyer, Co-founder Clooney Foundation for Justice
This week’s Fresh Dialogues podcast brings together my recent interviews on this topic from the BBC, the Commonwealth Club and the Watermark Conference for Women. It seeks to answer the following questions:
- Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
- Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
- What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea.
Listen to the Fresh Dialogues podcast here or play it below:
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1. Who is Emma Gonzalez and why could she represent a turning point in gun control?
Emma Gonzales was one of the dozens of students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida who survived the massacre of 17 of their friends on February 14th. While most of us would have been terrorized and cowed by the horrific gun violence, just three days later, Emma Gonzales took to the podium at a Florida rally, where she directed her anger at President Trump and other politicians for accepting donations from the National Rifle Association. If you haven’t yet watched her passionate and articulate speech, I recommend you watch right now. She’s got over 1 million followers on Twitter and is using that as a platform to share information about the upcoming March for Our Lives on March 24th.
Emma Gonzalez: “Every single person up here today, all these people should be home grieving. But instead we are up here standing together because if all our government and President can do is send thoughts and prayers, then it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see…They say that tougher gun laws do not decrease gun violence. We call BS!”
2. Why does Amal Clooney care about gun violence and what’s she doing?
Amal Clooney was a keynote speaker at the Watermark Conference for Women on February 23rd. She was interviewed onstage by NPR’s Kelly McEvers, who asked her why she and George Clooney just committed $500,000 to the #NeverAgain movement to end gun violence. Here’s what she said:
Amal Clooney: “I’m just blown away by these students. They’re doing an amazing job at turning a tragedy into advocacy. I’m in awe of how courageous they are and how effective they are…at 16 years old… To stand face to face with the President, a Senator, the NRA and ask tough questions. They are determined for change to come and they are our best hope. As someone who didn’t grow up in the US, I’ve always thought of it as this great country providing an example to others. The idea that children are scared to go to school, that bullet proof backpacks are sold out, and they have to go through live shooter drills and the solution now is to start arming teachers!”
“I’ve heard theories about violence in films, mental health issues…but these exist in other countries and this is the only country where this kind of problem exists. The difference is guns!” (applause)
She added that her children are very likely to go to school here in the United States and so that’s why this is very personal for her. One day the wee Clooneys’ lives may depend on real change happening and a reduction in the proliferation of guns in this country.
I asked Kelly McEvers – from her front row perspective as NPR host – why these Florida teens are making such a big impact. Here’s what she said:
Kelly McEvers: “This time something has snapped…Instagram is the difference (and Twitter). They’re trolling the trolls as no one has ever done…We in the mainstream media are listening, because these kids, they get a survivor’s pass – they sheltered in a cupboard for four hours…People are desperate for something to happen. For a long time elected officials have been able to take money from people…No one’s tried to call them on it. And now they are. So, are businesses going to rethink who they do business with? Are politicians going to rethink who they take money from? That’s the bigger thing that could come out of this. Not just policy.”
Kelly hosts an NPR podcast called Embedded and says she’d like to be embedded with the young students like Emma Gonzalez to watch this new movement taking root.
3. What can you do? Travel guru and businessman Rick Steves has one powerful idea
On February 17th, a few hours after Gonzales addressed the nation, I interviewed America’s beloved travel guru and PBS personality, Rick Steves at the Commonwealth Club of California. He leads a multi-million dollar travel business and yet he was willing to risk alienating some of his fans (and impacting his business) by speaking freely and forcefully against the NRA. Here’s a link to the full interview podcast. Listen @58:42 when I ask him about Europe’s sensible gun laws and Emma Gonzales’s speech.
Rick Steves: “I would like us to have Europe’s standards when it comes to guns…The American people need to step up and vote….We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA and elect people who proudly don’t.”
Dick’s Sporting Goods was one of the first companies to take a stand against the NRA. The CEO comments echo what Rick Steves told me:
“We need to do more than thoughts and prayers…we’ve got to un-elect people who get money from the NRA.”
The Commonwealth Club podcast was downloaded over 5000 times within the first day of posting.
I discussed all this live on the BBC World Service on Monday. The BBC’s Fergus Nicoll asked me to share highlights of my Rick Steves interview in the context of America’s upcoming midterm elections. You can listen to the full discussion at the BBC World Service, starting at 12:58 in the podcast.
