Volume 102, Issue 17
The Hilltop
Thursday, February 22, 2018
The Student Voice of Howard University thehilltoponline.com
Thousands of High School Students Say Enough: Marches Across Nation Demand Gun Control By: Amiyah King, HU News Service
T
ens of thousands of high school students across America were marked with an unexcused absence Wednesday, but everyone knew where they were.
In the Washington area, high school students from D.C. public schools and from public schools in Maryland marched to the Capitol and then to the White House to demand that Congress and the president institute gun control legislation that will keep them safe. The march was organized by students from schools such as Richard Montgomery and Bethesda-Chevy Chase in response to the recent shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. It was exactly one week ago Wednesday that 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire at his high school in Parkland, killing 17 students and wounding dozens more. Cruz was charged with 17 accounts of murder of his classmates and teachers. There have been more than half a dozen school shootings so far this year.
In response to the speakers, the crowd shouted, “No more silence and gun violence! Hey, hey. Ho, ho. The NRA has got to go!” Teachers and parents stood side-by-side with the students at the march and rally as chaperones or to provide support for their children and their cause. “I don’t think they need my help,” said Mandi Mader, mother of three who attended the march in support of her children. “I’m just one more body to represent them here.” Most students said they were advocating for the implementation of gun control laws in Congress as a solution to the crisis. See NEWS, Page 2
Student survivors at the school have launched a nationwide effort to focus attention on gun control in the wake of the shooting. Student demonstrations were reported in Illinois, Florida and Texas. Washington-area students walked out of their classes Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and they formed a procession to Union Station where they joined other protestors who took Amtrak and the Marc trains from schools in Maryland. From Union Station, thousands of high schoolers marched to Capitol Hill and later participated in a sit-in demonstration outside The White House. During the sit-in, students gathered in a semi-circle to hear leaders talk about why they should be there. “No more thoughts and prayers,” said student leader Daniel Shepard. “If this isn’t the last school shooting, we’ll be out here every opportunity we get.” (Photo/Amiyah King)
A. Peter Bailey Visits Howard University to Speak to Young Media Students
DMV Residents Gather for Vegan Friendly Event LIFE+STYLE, Page 8
By: Rebecca Johnson, Campus Reporter (@the_rebeccaJ)
About a week before the 53-year anniversary of the assassination of Malcolm X, one of his closest friends, A. Peter Bailey, visited a class at Howard University to talk about his experiences in the Black press, more specifically his knowledge of Black magazines. "So often we only read about and hear about people who walked with Malcolm X, who experienced racial segregation and who worked for Ebony during the formative years,” said Professor Hazel Edney, an adjunct journalism professor in the Cathy Hughes School of Communications. “A. Peter Bailey is not only live and in person, but he is willing to share his experiences and perspectives with students in order to sharpen theirs. This, to me, is the most powerful kind of classroom education.” The self-proclaimed “Malcolmite” co-founded the Organization for African-American Unity along with Malcolm X after Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and was the editor of the organiza-
tion’s newsletter, Blacklash. Bailey was an editor for Ebony Magazine from 1968 to 1976 and started the first class on the Black Press at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also happens to hold the most extensive collection of the first issue of the first volume of Black Magazines. The Newseum even borrowed his collection for an exhibit on the Black Press. Regardless of his friends calling him a hoarder, Bailey has always been a collector. “I remember when my grandmother subscribed to Jet magazine. I was 13 at the time and I used to devour that magazine, because that was my connection growing up in that small town in Alabama,” said Bailey. “Jet magazine became my connection with the Black national community.” See CAMPUS, Page 6
Former Director of FBI Addresses Spying on Black Activists CAMPUS, Page 5
Setting the Bar: Howard University Swim Team Breaks Two Records in One Day SPORTS, Page 11