This morning, three survivors of the Parkland shooting appeared on The Ellen Show to discuss gun reform and the upcoming March for Our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C. Emma Gonzalez, 18, Cameron Kasky, 17, and Jaclyn Corin, 17, spoke to Ellen DeGeneres about where they were at the time of the shooting, the students and teachers who were killed, and the origins of the march.
'The thing that inspired us to create the march was people saying, 'You are all talking about gun control, and this is not the time to talk about gun control—this is the time to grieve and time to mourn,'' Kasky said. 'And we understand that, and we said, now might not be the time to talk about gun control. Here's the time to talk about gun control: March 24th…. It's amazing the universal support we've gotten. It's proof that this isn't red and blue, this isn't generation versus generation—this is the 97 percent of people who believe we need to take steps here together.'
Gonzalez also spoke about her speech at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, which quickly went viral: 'I knew I would get my job done properly at that rally if I got people chanting something. And I thought 'We call B.S.' has four syllables, that's good, I'll use that. I didn't want to say the actual curse words...this message doesn't need to be thought of in a negative way at all.'
DeGeneres asked Kasky about the recent CNN town hall in which he went head to head with Senator Marco Rubio about his decision to accept donations from the NRA.
'I was angry because for the first time I was confronting what happened to us and looking it in the eye,' Kasky said. 'We appreciate that Senator Rubio showed up, because not everybody did. And we appreciate that Senator Rubio has started the baby steps to fixing this, because those are steps and that's progress, and that's proof that we're doing something here.' Kasky also said he almost feels guilty that it took this tragedy for him to get involved with the push for gun reform. 'You have to forgive yourself. I wish that I had been able to be part of this before I had to feel it at home...but we're here now, and we just have to keep on going and realise we're here to fight the good fight.'
DeGeneres and Shutterfly announced to the three students that they will be donating $50,000 (£35,797) to March for Our Lives, joining a number of celebrities, including Oprah and George and Amal Clooney, who have put money behind the cause. Watch the full interview here:
Madison is the digital deputy editor at ELLE, where she also covers news, politics, and culture. If she’s not online, she’s probably napping or trying not to fall while rock climbing.
