Yolanda Renee King, the nine-year-old granddaughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. brought many to tears on Saturday with a surprise appearance at the Washington D.C rally by American students calling for gun control from Congress and President Donald Trump.
My grandfather had a dream that his four little children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, Yolanda told a rapt crowd.
I have a dream that enough is enough, she said, referencing her grandfathers famous 1963 I Have a Dream speech on ending racism.
And that this should be a gun-free world period..
Watch Yolanda speak:
Martin Luther King Jr.'s granddaughter, Yolanda Renee King, speaking at the March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C.
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Demanding action on gun control from lawmakers, more than one million Americans turned out for emotional nationwide protests on Saturday fuelled by teenagers at a Florida high school where 17 people were shot dead last month.
Politicians, either represent the people or get out, Cameron Kasky, a 17-year-old from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, told the crowd at a huge rally in Washington.
Stand for us or beware the voters are coming, said Kasky, one of the leaders of a dynamic and passionate student movement which has emerged following the February 14 shooting at his school.
Large crowds also turned out for demonstrations in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Seattle and other cities more than 800 in all according to the organizers of the March For Our Lives.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said 175,000 people took part at the New York rally, tweeting: These students WILL change America.
But the largest protest was in Washington, where organizers told NBC News the crowd was estimated at more than 800,000 people, the largest gun control rally in the United States since the Million Mom March in 2000.
The main stage for the event in Washington was set up near the US Capitol and lawmakers were the target audience as speakers delivered blistering warnings that the time has come for stricter gun laws.
The people demand a law banning the sale of assault weapons, Kasky said.
The people demand we prohibit the sale of high-capacity magazines. The people demand universal background checks.
We are going to take this to every election, to every state, and every city, said another Stoneman Douglas student leader, David Hogg.
March organisers included a link for people to register to vote on their MarchForOurLives.com website as they seek to transform their nascent movement into a potent political force.
Signs carried by protestors lambasted lawmakers who oppose tougher laws and the National Rifle Association (NRA), the powerful US gun lobby.
These kids are right, said Jeff Turchin, a 68-year-old retired garment manufacturer who came to Washington from New York to attend the rally.
Theyre basically saying the NRA is paying off these Republicans, Turchin said of the party of President Donald Trump, which controls the Senate and House of Representatives.
The Washington rally kicked off with Andra Day singing Rise Up and also featured a performances by Jennifer Hudson, whose mother, brother and seven-year-old nephew were shot dead in 2008.
Holding a poster reading Never Again, the slogan for the march, Miley Cyrus performed the song The Climb.
But the most riveting appearances were by the Stoneman Douglas students.
Emma Gonzalez, 17, took the stage wearing a green military-style jacket and ripped jeans and delivered a eulogy for the 14 students and three adults slain by 19-year-old gunman Nikolas Cruz.
Tears rolling down her face, she then stood in silence at the podium for a full four and half minutes as the crowd fidgeted and some cried out Were with you Emma.
Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds, Gonzalez finally said the exact amount of time Cruz spent spraying bullets inside her school before fleeing.
Fight for your lives before its someone elses job, Gonzalez said. Get out there and vote.
*AFP
Source: NAN