 | This article needs to be updated.(June 2023) |
50 Miles More is a youth-led American nonprofit organization working to end gun violence in the United States through local, grassroots action to pass gun control. [1] [2] [3]
 | |
| Formation | February 2018 |
|---|---|
| Type | Political non-profit group |
| Leader | Tatiana Washington |
| Website | 50milesmore |
After the March 2018 March For Our Lives, students from across Wisconsin marched 50 miles from Madison, to Janesville, the hometown of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, to demand he support gun control legislation.North Carolina [4] Inspired by the 54-mile Selma to Montgomery march for civil rights, the four day march to Speaker Paul Ryan's hometown gained international attention. [5] [6]
50 Miles More brings together young people across schools, regions, and communities to create a bond among young activists to ensure a strong foundation for action around future gun control legislation. [7] [8] [9]
After the initial march in Wisconsin, student organizers launched the #50more in #50states campaign to challenge young people in every state to hold a 50-mile march to the hometown or office of an NRA-backed elected officials. [10] [11] Their goal was to ensure that the momentum continued after the Wisconsin march and that the country continued to hear the voices of young people. [12] [13]
Massachusetts was the first state to take on the #50more in #50states challenge, marching 50 miles from Worcester, MA city hall to the headquarters of Smith & Wesson, one of the largest gun manufacturers in the country. [14] [15] 50 Miles More Massachusetts activists raised awareness of Smith & Wesson's contribution to the gun violence epidemic and called for a stop to the production of all weapons outlawed in Massachusetts. [16] [17]
On June 26, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 50 Miles More organizers announced plans to embark on "The Milwaukee to Madison March", walking 65 miles across Wisconsin, starting at City Hall in Milwaukee on June 30, 2020, and ending in Madison on Independence Day, July 4, 2020. Organizers say they are calling on Wisconsin elected officials to do more to protect Black youth, including Black women and Black LGBTQ+ youth in Wisconsin [18]
50 Miles More formed at the end of February 2018, led by activist Katie Eder. [19] [20] After the March 14 walkouts and March For Our Lives were announced, students at Shorewood High School in Shorewood, WI sought to ensure that after these events ended the country did not stop fighting to end gun violence. [21] [22] The march was announced on March 12, two days before the national walkout. [23] [24] The march was planned by a number of students from Shorewood High School including Katie Eder, Brendan Fardella, Shannon Carlson, Hiwot Schutz, Alemitu Caldart, and Lauren Davis. [25] [26] The students were supported by the Shorewood School District Superintendent, Dr. Bryan Davis, parents, and community members. 50 Miles More is now led by Executive Director Tatiana Washington. [27] [28] 50 Miles More is a founding member of The Future Coalition. [29]
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-largest in the U.S. Madison is named for American Founding Father and President James Madison.
Shorewood Hills is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It was established in 1927. The population was 2,169 at the 2020 census. Entirely surrounded by the city of Madison and Lake Mendota, it is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Youth activism is the participation in community organizing for social change by persons between the ages of 15–24. Youth activism has led to a shift in political participation and activism. A notable shift within youth activism is the rise of “Alter-Activism” resulting in an emphasis on lived experiences and connectivity amongst young activists. The young activists have taken lead roles in public protest and advocacy around many issues like climate change, abortion rights and gun violence. Different from past protest or advocacy, technology has become the backbone to many of these modern youth movements. It has been shown in multiple studies that internet use along with seeking information online is shown to have positive impacts on political engagement. Popular applications like Twitter, Instagram and YouTube have become the newest tools for young activists in the 21st century. Technology and the use of digital media has changed the way youth participate in activism globally, and youth are more active in media than older generations.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is a public high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman Douglas and is the only public high school in Parkland, serving almost all of the limits of that city as well as a section of Coral Springs.
X González is an American activist and advocate for gun control. In 2018, they survived the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history, and, in response, co-founded the gun-control advocacy group Never Again MSD.
Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was formed by a group of twenty students attending Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) at the time of the deadly shooting in 2018, in which seventeen students and staff members were killed by the alleged gunman, who was a 19-year-old former student of the school and was armed with an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle. The organization started on social media as a movement "for survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting, by survivors of the Stoneman Douglas Shooting" using the hashtag #NeverAgain. A main goal of the group was to influence that year's United States mid-term elections, and they embarked on a multi-city bus tour to encourage young people to register to vote.
March for Our Lives (MFOL) is a student-led organization which leads demonstrations in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and was planned by Never Again MSD in collaboration with the nonprofit organization Everytown for Gun Safety. The event followed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting a month earlier, which was described by several media outlets as a possible tipping point for gun control legislation.
In 2018, protests against gun violence in the United States increased after a series of mass shootings, most notably at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on February 14 that year. An organized protest in the form of a national school walkout occurred on March 14. March for Our Lives was held on March 24. Another major demonstration occurred April 20, 2018.
Alexander Blake Wind is an American student activist against gun violence. A survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and a founding member of the Never Again MSD movement, he is a critic of politicians who are supported by the National Rifle Association of America. Wind was one of five Stoneman Douglas students featured on the cover of Time magazine in 2018.
David Miles Hogg is an American gun control activist. He rose to prominence during the 2018 United States gun violence protests as a student survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, helping lead several high-profile protests, marches, and boycotts, including the boycott of The Ingraham Angle. He has also been a target and scapegoat of several conspiracy theories.
Naomi Wadler is an American student and activist against gun violence. She has made speeches advocating for victims of gun violence in the United States, especially black female victims, most notably at the pro-gun control protest March For Our Lives. She attends The Field School in Washington, DC.
March for Our Lives Portland was a protest held in Portland, Oregon, as part of March for Our Lives, a series of rallies and marches in Washington, D.C., and more than 800 cities across the world on March 24, 2018. Students organized the event, which included a march from the North Park Blocks to Pioneer Courthouse Square where a rally featured speakers, a performance by rock band Portugal. The Man, and a surprise appearance by rapper Black Thought of hip-hop band The Roots. The protest was the city's largest since the January 2017 Women's March on Portland; the Portland Police Bureau estimated a crowd size of 12,000.
Bryan George Steil is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Stand for the Second was a student-led demonstration in support of the United States Second Amendment held on May 2, 2018. The demonstration was in response to the March for Our Lives protest held on March 24, 2018.
March On, stylized as March ON, is an American nonprofit organization of women-led and grassroots political activist groups that grew out of the women’s marches of January 21, 2017.
Future Coalition is an American nonprofit organization consisting of a national network of youth-led organizations and initiatives centered around creating social change.
Lane Murdock is an activist and founder of The National School Walkout.
Katie Eder is an American activist and social entrepreneur who founded and has led social impact ventures 50 Miles More, Kids Tales, and The Future Coalition, the latter where she is currently the Executive Director.
The National School Walkout was a national student-led protest on April 20, 2018, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre. The walkout was one of many protests against gun violence in the United States that erupted in response to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas mass shooting on February 14, 2018.
Aalayah Eastmond is an American activist and advocate for gun violence prevention, social justice, and racial equality. After surviving the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Eastmond began her activism during the 2018 United States gun violence protests. She has testified multiple times to the U.S. Congress. Eastmond is an executive council member of Team Enough, a youth-led gun violence prevention organization which is part of the Brady Campaign. Eastmond co-founded Concerned Citizens of DC in the wake of the murder of George Floyd to organize protests supporting social justice issues in Washington, D.C. She supports Black Lives Matter and protests against police brutality.