George Clooney: my letter to the Parkland students

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[size=34]George Clooney: my letter to the Parkland students [/size]

 George Clooney  
Parkland students guest edit Guardian  


When student journalists from the Parkland high school newspaper requested an interview with George and Amal Clooney, this is what he wrote back

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George Clooney
Fri 23 Mar 2018 01.00 EDT  


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George Clooney to the Parkland students: ‘Amal and I are 100% behind you and will be marching in DC’. Photograph: Sundholm Magnus/Action/Rex/Shutterstock

Today, our staff at the Eagle Eye, the student newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, is taking over the Guardian’s website to run coverage of the March for Our Lives. We hope to use the Guardian’s platform to heighten awareness of the issue of gun control and school safety to such an extent that the federal government can no longer ignore us.
As part of this project with the Guardian, we requested interviews with a number of politicians and celebrities, including Bernie Sanders (he said yes!), Marco Rubio (another yes) and George and Amal Clooney, who gave $500,000 to support the march. They turned us down on the interview, but we loved the letter George sent us back.
– Emma Dowd, Lauren Newman and Rebecca Schneid, co-editors-in-chief of the Eagle Eye

Dear Emma, Lauren and Rebecca,
Thank you for your note and congratulations on the incredible work you and all of your fellow students are doing to make the country a safer place.
It’s terrific that you’re editing the Guardian. It’s a stellar newspaper and they must feel honored to be working with you.
Amal and I are 100% behind you and will be marching in DC on the 24th, but we both feel very strongly that this is your march. Your moment. Young people are taking it to the adults and that has been your most effective tool. The fact that no adults will speak on the stage in DC is a powerful message to the world that if we can’t do something about gun violence then you will. The issue is going to be this, anyone you ask would feel proud to be interviewed by you but it’s so much more effective if it’s young people.

You could talk to a dozen kids like the young kids from Chicago and LA that Emma met with. You could take over the Guardian and make it tell the stories of children by children. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to point to this moment and say it belongs to you. You certainly should do what you want but that would be my hope for you.
Amal and I stand behind you, in support of you, in gratitude to you.
You make me proud of my country again.


Thank you.
All the best,


George

Very, very, very nice!!!

Kudos to ‘The Guardian’ for giving students this journalistic platform to get out the message.  And I’m so pleased with George’s response to these courageous students.

The only thing I don't like about this march is the fact that a lot of artists will perform. The "children" should have been the protagonists.

I think this is what the students have chosen. It's very clear that the only speakers today will be them and they are in control and have been consulted at every level......

Washington Post live coverage

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[size=38]Parkland shooting survivors lead hundreds of thousands of youngsters and celebrities, including including Oprah and George Clooney, in DC as historic March For Our Lives protests take place around the world[/size]

• The March For Our Lives began on Pennsylvania Avenue at noon on Saturday in Washington DC  
  
  
• Officials have predicted that as many as 500,000 people may attend the historic protest 
  
  
• It has been organized by the teenage survivors of the February 14 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida  
  
  
• Some 800 'sibling' marches and protests are taking place around the country and overseas 8 
  
  
• George Clooney, Dennis Rodman, Miley Cyrus, Steven Spielberg and Oprah are among celebrity attendees 
  
  
• Paul McCartney led protesters in New York City where he paid tribute to John Lennon who was shot in 1980 
  
  
• Protesters at all of the marches are asking for automatic rifles like AR-15s to be outlawed
  
  
• President Trump has promised to ban bump stock but there has been no talk of criminalizing automatic rifles 
  
  

By JENNIFER SMITH FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 08:06 EDT, 24 March 2018 | UPDATED: 12:50 EDT, 24 March 2018

    


Hundreds of thousands have turned out in Washington DC for the historic March for Our Lives protest against gun violence which has been heralded by the Parkland shooting survivors who organized it as the 'of a revolution'.
The event is being led by the student survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting on February 14 when 17 were slaughtered by a teenage gunman carrying a legally-purchased AR-15. 
Some 800 other events are being held around the world in solidarity, but it is the DC march students hope will finally force congress to change gun laws.
The DC march began at noon on Pennsylvania Avenue between 3rd street and 12th street NW but large crowds had already formed by 8.30am.   

Among celebrity attendees in Washington DC is George Clooney who posed for a photograph with Dennis Rodman before the event kicked off. 
Jimmy Fallon, Miley Cyrus, Steven Spielberg and Ariana Grande is also there and Oprah Winfrey is expected to attend. 
Scroll down for videos 
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Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Washington DC on Pennsylvania Avenue for the March for our Lives protest against gun violence  
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The DC march began on Pennsylvania Avenue at noon on Saturday. It has been organized by the teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting on February 14 
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Protesters carried anti-gun violence signs enthusiastically, hours before the event was due to begin. The majority of the protesters are young people, specifically high school students 
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A young protester blows bubbles as he waits for the action to begin in Washington DC on Saturday 
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A teenage protester wears a vest with the names of the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting written across it with the words 'enough is enough' at its neck 
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A student holds up her hands bearing the words 'don't shoot' on Saturday at the March for Our Lives protest in DC 

[size=10][size=18]Thousands gather in DC for March for Our Lives anti-gun protest

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• David Hogg, one of the Stoneman Douglas survivors who has been at the forefront of the issue ever since, spoke confidently about the event on Saturday morning in an early interview with GMA. 
  
  

'Today we are going to start a revolution. 
'This is the beginning of a lifelong marathon not only for me but for my generation. 
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George and Amal Clooney are pictured at the Washington DC March For Our Lives protest on Saturday. They donated $500,000 to the event 
'We are sick and tired of the inaction here in Washington and around the country at different state capitals and different cities, of politicians that are owned by the NRA and not listening to the constituents of America. 
'We are the children. We are making our voices heard and we will change America with or without these politicians and today is the beginning of that revolution,' he declared. 
The march in Washington was less of a procession than a stand-still gathering, such was the size of the crowd. 
It officially kicked off with a performance from Andra Day who sang her hit Rise Up with a children's choir from Baltimore. 
The first of 20 speakers in Washington DC was Cameron Kasky, one of the teenage survivors of the Parkland shooting. 
He paid tribute to Nicholas Dworet, one of the victims, who would have turned 18 on Saturday had he not been killed. 
'We hereby promise to fix the broken system we've been forced in to. Don't worry, we've got this. 
'The people of this country now see past the lies. We have seen this narrative before. [But] the corrupt aren't manipulating the facts [anymore]. We know the truth. 
'Shooting after shooting, people now see the one thing that they all had in common - the weapons,' he said.  
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Jimmy Fallon is also at the event in Washington DC. He also posed with Rodman backstage 
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Steven Spielberg with his wife Kate Capshaw (left) and George Clooney is seen with Dennis Rodman (right) 
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This was the scene on Pennsylvania Avenue at around 9am on Saturday morning as more and more protesters arrived with signs
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Signs written in both English and Spanish were dotted among the fast-growing crowd on Saturday morning 
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Crowds gather in Washington DC on Saturday ahead of the March for Our Lives protest. In the crowds were young children, adults and teenagers
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Youngsters lead the march in Washington DC on Saturday at the March for Our Lives protest
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A young man wears fake blood to symbolize the blood shed by shooting victims at the March for Our Lives protest on Saturday 
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A protester in Washington DC holds up a tribute to Parkland shooting victim Nicholas Dworet, 17, who was one of the 17 gunned down
Hogg, who complained on Friday that his parents 'don't know how to use a f****** democracy so we have to' and said he was 'tired' from his advocacy work, said he was saddened by another shooting in Maryland this week which he said forced him to 'relive' his own experience. 
'I had to relive a lot of the previous memories from my own school shooting. Everyone takes grief in their own way but for me it was infuriating realizing that because that was a person with a gun, in reality, were they taken out by law enforcement?
'Yes and I am so glad that they were but they shouldn't have had to do that in the first place,' he said.  
In an extension of his monologue, he went on: 'It's due to a lack of in training, a mental healthcare problem, a gun control problem and an American problem is what we have here.' 
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Common, Andra Day, Vic Mensa and Ben Platt will all perform in DC and there will be speeches from 20 young people.  
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Young protesters in Washington DC carried signs demanding the outlawing of assault rifles like the AR-15 used by Nikolas Cruz to commit mass murder on February 14
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There was heightened security at the event in Washington DC on Saturday.  Concealed carry weapons were banned
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A protester in Washington DC carries a sign listing the locations of recent US mass shootings including the Las Vegas country music massacre and the Pulse nightclub killing along with the Aurora Batman massacre and several church and high school tragedies
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Young children joined the protest in Washington DC to refute the NRA's heavily repeated argument that what is needed are tighter mental health checks instead of changes to what firearms can be bought 
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Nicole Spriggs and April Amarsh cry at the protest in Washington DC. Their loved one Jamahri Sydnor, 17, was shot to death in 2017
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Taurica Haskins is comforted by her husband Alden Haskins Jr at the March for Our Lives protest in Washington DC. Their 17-year-old son Jamahri Sydnor was shot dead in August 2017
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A young protester in Washington DC holds up his hands with the words 'don't shoot' written on them on Saturday at the March for Our Lives 
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Students hold up protest signs in Washington DC at the March on Saturday as part of the March for Our Lives protest
In Parkland, Florida, 35,000 people gathered for a separate protest. 
There, survivor Adam Buchwald gave an emotional speech calling for change. 
'We cannot and will not be influenced by money and demand the same from our elected officials.  We are watching you closely now and now have a voice to influence elections,' he said.  
The teenager said he and his friends thought it was 'incomprehensible' when gunman Nikolas Cruz stormed their freshman building on February 14 after 'so many' mass shootings in the past.
On Friday night, the Parkland survivors who had arrived early in DC held an emotional vigil in memory of their murdered classmates. 
They will include Stoneman Douglas students and other youngsters from different schools around the country who have also been affected by gun violence. 
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Singer Andra Day kicked off the performances in Washington DC rally with a children's choir from Baltimore who sang her hit Rise Up with her 
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PARKLAND, FLORIDA: 35,000 people gathered in Parkland, Florida, the town which kicked off the movement in reaction to its own school shooting on February 14
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School shooting survivor Adam Buchwald was one of the speakers in Parkland, Florida, on Saturday morning 
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NEW YORK CITY: Sir Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell take part in the march in Manhattan on Saturday. McCartney told a reporter: 'One of my best friends was shot not far from here'. He was of course referring to John Lennon who was gunned down outside The Dakota Building which was within eyeshot of the NYC march on Saturday 
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NEW YORK CITY: Protesters marched in Manhattan on Saturday morning in one of the 800 'sibling' marches organized
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NEW YORK CITY: Protesters wearing white hold up pictures of the vicrims of the Parkland and Sandyhook massacres 
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MARYLAND: At Great Mills High School in Maryland, where a 16-year-old girl was shot to death this week by her ex-boyfriend in a separate school shooting, there was another protest 
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MARYLAND: A student of Great Mills High School in Maryland held a sign marching in memory of  Jaelynn Willey, the 16-year-old victim of a shooting at the school earlier in the week
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HOUSTON: In Houston, Texas, protesters held another demonstration with signs calling for reform 
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LONDON: A group of protesters lie down outside the US Embassy in London as part of their demonstration 
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PARIS: Protesters gather near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, on Saturday March 24 as part of the global coordinated protest 
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SWITZERLAND:Crowds gathered outside the UN in Geneva to compel them to intervene in the issue in Switzerland 
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SCOTLAND: In Edinburgh, protesters gathered outside the US Consulate to demand gun reform in the US 

[size=34]'Exhausted' shooting survivor David Hogg, 17, complains that his parents don't know how to use a 'f***** democracy' [/size]

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David Hogg, 17, on Good Morning America on Saturday where he heralded the march as 'the start of a revolution' 
Shooting survivor David Hogg, who has been at the forefront of advocacy for tighter gun laws since 17 of his classmates and teachers were murdered on February 14, gave a foul-mouthed interview on Friday on the issue. 
Speaking to The Outline, Hogg, 17, tried to explain why his generation felt they had to take things into their own hands to effect change. 
''When your old-a** parent is like "I don’t know how to send an iMessage" and you’re just like, "Give me the f***ing phone and let me handle it," Sadly, that’s what we have to do with our government. 
'Our parents don’t know how to use a f***ing democracy, so we have to.' 
Since February 15, the day after the shooting, Hogg has been dogged in his participation in media interviews.  He became such a regular fixture on CNN that right-wing trolls wrongly labeled him a 'crisis actor' who had been pushed forward to peddle a Democratic agenda on television. 
All of the talking and organizing of events has left him 'beyond exhausted' he said. 
'I’m beyond exhausted. I get to a certain point where I just get so tired that I keep going. It creates a positive feedback loop in some ways — the more stress and work I put on me, the more stress and work I can deal with,' he said. 
He also complained about some of the changes being made to prevent more shootings, namely the clear backpacks students at his school are now being asked to wear. 
Hogg says it violates their 'First Amendment Rights' and is 'embarrassing'. 
'It’s unnecessary, it’s embarrassing for a lot of the students and it makes them feel isolated and separated from the rest of American school culture where they’re having essentially their First Amendment rights infringed upon because they can’t freely wear whatever backpack they want regardless of what it is. 
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Hogg said he was 'beyond exhausted' but that he could cope with the 'stress' of organizing the march and advocating for gun reform 
'It has to be a clear backpack. What we should have is just more policies that make sure that these students are feeling safe and secure in their schools and not like they’re being fought against like it’s a prison.'
'One of the other important things to realize is many students want their privacy,' he added. 'There are many, for example, females in our school that when they go through their menstrual cycle, they don’t want people to see their tampons and stuff.' 
He also took a swipe at the NRA, calling them 'sick f******' and condemned Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott for accepting their donations. 
'It just makes me think, "What sick f**ers out there want to continue to sell more guns, murder more children, and honestly just get reelected?"'
He added: 'What type of s**** person does that? They could have blood from children splattered all over their faces and they wouldn’t take action, because they all still see these dollar signs.'[/size]



 
Stars have all commended the Stoneman Douglas students for harnessing the debate on gun control and taking action. 
Others, including President Trump's friend, Patriots owner Bob Kraft, lent their support in other ways. 
Kraft gave the teenagers from Parkland his football team's private plane to shuttle them to DC on Friday.  Delta also donated two of its aircraft to fly protesters to the city from Florida.   
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784 protests are taking place around the world on Saturday
As they prepared to march on Friday, President Trump announced that the Department of Justice would issue a 'rule' banning bump stocks - the firearm accessory which can turn non automatic guns into semi-automatic and automatic killing machines. 
'Obama Administration legalized bump stocks.
'BAD IDEA. As I promised, today the Department of Justice will issue the rule banning BUMP STOCKS with a mandated comment period.
'We will BAN all devices that turn legal weapons into illegal machine guns,' he said. 
On February 14, gunman Nikolas Cruz did not use a bump stock to kill 14 students and three teachers. 
The most infamous use of the accessory was by Stephen Paddock, the Las Vegas gunman who murdered 58 people by spraying bullets into a crowd at a country music festival in October. He later shot himself.
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A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting student prepares their sign in Washington DC ahead of the protest
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The students have created merchandise to sell at the event. All proceeds will go towards the March For Our Lives Action Fund
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Wonderful post Annemarie!!!  

The note from George and the donation made in the name of Ella and Alexander is something the twins will be able to cherish for a lifetime.

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[size=54]Oprah, George Clooney paid for water for march, organizers say
BY JOSH DELK - 03/24/18 02:50 PM EDT 50
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© Greg Nash

George Clooney and Oprah Winfrey paid for all the free water provided to protesters at the "March For Our Lives" anti-gun violence rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, event organizers told NBC News. 
Winfrey and the Clooneys donated $500,000 to the effort demanding legislative action on gun control in the wake of the deadly Parkland, Florida school shooting in February.

The Academy Award-winning actor and his wife, prominent lawyer and human rights advocate Amal Clooney, told ABC News they were "so inspired by the courage and eloquence of these young men and women from the Parkland high school where 17 students and faculty lost their lives, and will attend the D.C. event on Saturday. 
Among the other Hollywood heavy hitters who matched the Clooneys in their donations were film directors Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg. Speilberg also joined at one of the marches. 
The "March For Our Lives" is expected to bring nearly half a million protesters to the capital in a day-long event featuring speeches from survivors and lawmakers demanding gun control measures. 

 

 
 
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Great pictures benex.  Thanks for posting.  It was a wonderful event yesterday. So much enthusiasm and emotion from everyone ....

Thanks PAN.  Yep I chatted a bit more about it last night on ‘The Serious Side’ thread.  It’s just not clear what the numbers were yesterday.  But it was a big difference from the Women’s March.  I’d want to say about a third to a half less.  Nonetheless it was a great crowd. And there were so many similar marches in other states that it may have brought down the number in DC  a bit.

Nice find on the pix.  Looks like Richard Kind was with them yesterday too.

The mail has a shot from space that says there were 800,000 people in Washington. And that is the biggest youth protest since Vietnam.

800,000 is a wonderful number!!!  From the monies donated by everyone, the letter penned by George, to the overwhelming response across the globe it's just wonderful!!!

Hi folks, I moved the pictures of George Clooney & Co at dinner to its own thread. If I could kindly ask you to start a new thread for each new sighting rather than muddling everything together. Thanks

Daniel Duff, a freshman from the Parkland HS got to meet George and Amal.  His impression of George in this Vanity Fair piece. Also embedded in the article are a couple of pictures of George and Amal.  One in particular shows Nick, Nina, Grant, Ada (I think) and Amal’s red headed friend (oops ... can’t remember her name).

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Donna,
Amal's red headed friend is Samantha Barry.

That it’s!  Thanks Carol!