The shooting that took place on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida was tragic and heartbreaking.  But the surviving students who are speaking truth to power are so inspiring.  Young people are standing up and demanding change.   

Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the namesake of the school, was an advocate for women’s voting, an author and a conservationist who spoke out to protect the Everglades in Florida when some wanted to drain it and use it for new developments.  I saw a quote from Marjory and it was as though she was speaking directly to the students fighting today.  She said, “Be a nuisance where it counts.  Do your part to inform and stimulate the public to join your action.  Be depressed, discouraged and disappointed at failure and the disheartening effects of ignorance, greed, corruption and bad politics — but never give up.”

The students in Florida are inspiring people throughout the United States and around the world.  They will not stop until they have made a difference.  They are eloquent and smart and powerful.  They are the change we have been waiting for.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas also said, “You have to stand up for some things in this world.”

What can we stand up for today?