Katie Eder, an 18-year-old senior from Shorewood High School outside Milwaukee, did more than just speak out against gun violence. She walked 50 miles for the cause, and she wasn’t alone.
“Kids may be only 25 percent of the population, but they’re 100 percent of the future,” Eder said.
One day after the March for Our Lives that occurred in cities across the country, more than 40 students from all over Wisconsin gathered in Madison to begin marching the 50 miles to Janesville. They chose this destination because it is the hometown of Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. The intention was to challenge him to act on gun reform.
Zaria Witticker is terrified of the threats facing young people in schools across the country.
“It’s a really important thing and change needs to happen,” said Witticker, a marcher from Eau Claire. “We have the awesome young voices from all across Wisconsin saying that we need to change so hopefully that will really inspire people.”
Eder had help organizing the march from several of her peers at Shorewood High School. They were inspired by the survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.
“It’s scary but it takes a lot of strength for the young people that are stepping up and marching, especially marching 50 miles,” Eder said. “It takes a lot of strength in the face of all that fear to stand up and say, ‘I’m going to do something about this, and I have the power to do something about this.”
Several students from Shorewood gathered in Eder’s mother’s basement to plan logistics.
“We are very proud of Katie,” her mother, Laura Parachio, said. “We told our children to use their powers for good, and Katie has definitely used her powers for good.”
Eder and her fellow classmates organized the walk with the help from the activist organization MarchOn, which planned the Women’s March, and Urban Underground in Milwaukee. MarchOn strives to make change in politics at the federal, state and local levels by advocating for legislation and political candidates.
Enlarge
“We have a lot of synergies between the two organizations,” Eder said.
The two share the same goal: to continue coverage of a major issue and not let it fade out of the media.
“How can we move forward? How can we keep the momentum going?” Eder said.
Eder is coordinating a launch of #50States along with the hashtag #50MilesMore, encouraging students from around the country to march 50 miles to the hometown of their representative and demand changes in gun control.
A dozen students marchers spoke at the rally in Traxler Park, calling out Paul Ryan in spoken poems and open letters. It was here where they made their requests known.
“These are demands that we believe are sensible and will surely decrease the number of deaths this issue causes,” 17-year-old Shorewood High School student Brenden Fardella said.
The march was four days long, with the students traveling 13 miles a day. Adult allies provided meals and snacks, and shuttled them back and forth for bathroom breaks along the way. They slept in high school gyms with sleeping bags.
Enlarge
“Schools are really, really kind about it,” said Eder. “It’s during Spring Break and so the schools aren’t being used and so they kind of opened their doors and said ‘come stay, we’d be happy to have you.'”
The students from Shorewood High say they were inspired by the 54-mile march to Montgomery that occurred in 1965.
“The Civil Rights Movement was a time when people looked at the issue of equality for black Americans as something that was never going to happen and that was impossible,” Eder said. “That’s a word that was used a lot and is being used a lot now, that gun reform will never happen and that it’s an impossible cause.”
However, they’re not going to let that one word stop them from fighting for their goal.
“We’re trying to make the impossible possible and I truly believe that this is the time that it’s going to happen,” Eder said. “The young people are ready for change and we’re ready to fight to make it happen.”
While more than 40 students marched from Madison to Janesville, Eder was welcomed by around 1,000 people at the final destination: Traxler Park in Paul Ryan’s hometown.
The first of their three demands was a ban on all military-style weapons. Their second demand was a ban on accessories that turn semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons. The third is a background check at any arms dealer, and an increase in age restrictions.
“It was really powerful. I’ve imagined this moment for the last month and a half and it was finally here and it finally happened,” Eder said. “It almost feels like a dream. It was everything I could have expected and more.”