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Maleah Williams

English 1101

Tipton

Naomi Wadler:

March for our lives

On the cold, wind bitten day of March 24th, 2018 almost 200,000 people attended the

March For Our Lives demonstration in Washington DC. People all across the states came for

the protest of gun control and and to give condolences to all the friends and family of the

countless children that lost their lives to the senseless violence of mass shootings. Through all

the tears and applauds for our young leaders who spoke about the experiences they faced with

these weapons and about the lives that have perished, one short speech stood out amongst the

rest.

Standing up upon the stage, watched by hundreds of thousands in person and millions around

the world, Naomi Wadler, an eleven year old girl from Alexandria, Virginia delivered a bone

chilling three minute and fifty-three second speech that lit a fire in not only the protesters and

supporters but also the millions of black youth whose voices deserve to be heard. Armed with

her bright yellow scarf wrapped tightly around her neck and her piercing gaze that reaches the

eyes of the furthest spectators, Naomi starts of her speech by talking about the walkout her and

a close friend conducted at her school. But then she says a total of three names, Courtlin

Arrington, Hadiya Pendleton and Taiyania Thompson.

“​I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African American girls whose stories

don’t make the front page of every national newspaper, whose stories don’t lead on the
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evening news. I represent the African American women who are victims of gun violence,

who are simply statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls full of potential.”(Wadler 2018)

All three of these names were young, African American women who all lost their lives to the gun

violence that is not only a huge problem in the school system but on the very streets and in the

very homes we pass by each day. She talks about these girls and how they are filled with

potential that will never be seen all because a weapon took their lives too soon. Naomi Waldler

stands with her head raised high and with a unwavering voice, makes each and every viewer

become aware that this march is for not only those lost is the schools but thats its for everyone

that has ever had their lives stolen by any firearm, especially those whose stories don't aren't

even a blimp in our countries radar.

Throughout every deep breath and pause she takes, we can see the dedication and

perseverance in her eyes and in her voice. Next she goes on to talk about her age and the

world. She say:

“People have said that I am too young to have these thoughts on my own. People have

said that I am a tool of some nameless adult. It’s not true. My friends and I might still be

11 and we might still be in elementary school, but we know. We know life isn’t equal for

everyone and we know what is right and wrong.”(Waldler 18)

By talking about her age and the age of her friend, Waldler is constructing a sense of

compassion in the audience, making them feel even worse about the situation as a whole. She's

making the audience think about the problems that have to be addressed and saying that even

though she is a child, she had to give up her childhood to a world that she does not feel safe

and respected in, race and age included.

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She want the audience to grasp the effects that guns have on the world, everyone in the world,

and especially the oppressed voices of a whole culture. Her goals to force a chilling scenes of

despairity and determination throughout the crowd is blatantly seen through the entirety of her

speech.

As Wadler comes to a closing, she delivers these parting words:

“I urge everyone here and everyone who hears my voice to join me in telling the stories

that aren’t told. To honor the girls, the women of color who are murdered at

disproportionate rates in this nation. I urge each of you to help me write the narrative for

this world and understand, so that these girls are never forgotten.”(Wadler 18)

Outing these girls on the stand as she does, she gives their story an opportunity to be

heard throughout the world. Her longing for a voice in our drastically changing world is

setting up for bigger and betters trials in the future for the African American culture and is

giving the opportunity for all the young women who have lost their lives to have one last

voice.

By choosing to speak on this day, Naomi becomes a beacon of light for all the Americans who

wish to stand and fight against gun violence. The violence the took the lives of hundreds of

students and thousands s of African American youth throughout the country, whose voices will

forever be heard as America fights on against those with the intent to put the children of this

country in danger and make the government aware that our generation will not rest until our

safety become the priority of the nation.

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Work Cited

Staff, SmartGirls. “Read 11 Year Old Naomi Wadler's Full Speech from March For Our Lives DC.” A
​ my Poehler's Smart

Girls,​ Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, 25 Mar. 2018, 

amysmartgirls.com/read-naomi-wadlers-11-yrs-full-speech-from-march-for-our-lives-dc-e729940f30be. 

Alexandra Wilts Washington DC. “Eleven-Year-Old Stuns Crowd with Speech at Gun Control March.” T
​ he Independent​, 

Independent Digital News and Media, 24 Mar. 2018, 

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/march-for-our-lives-speech-protest-gun-controls-black-girl

s-naomi-wadler-a8272501.html. 

Alexandra Wilts Washington DC. “Eleven-Year-Old Stuns Crowd with Speech at Gun Control March.” ​The

Independent​, Independent Digital News and Media, 24 Mar. 2018,

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/march-for-our-lives-speech-protest-gun-controls-black-girls-

naomi-wadler-a8272501.html.