Marching in Colorado. Three students help create Never Again Colorado. »
Trio and others in state create Never Again Colorado
Teens have had enough. They’ve had enough of being afraid at school. They’ve had enough of gun violence. They’ve had enough of legislative inaction. So they’re doing something.
Young people across the country — and the world — created more than 800 sister events alongside Saturday’s official March for Our Lives rally at the nation’s Capitol. But in Colorado, they took it a step further, also creating an organization called Never Again Colorado.
The group coalesced after the Feb. 14 shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla. It may be helmed by kids, but don’t condescend to them. They have been shaped by their experiences with gun violence and hardships. And each says they will work to end gun violence.
Among the leaders are 19year-old Tay Anderson, who is trying to give other young people a voice; 21-year-old Shannon Hayes, who wants to heal after surviving the 2013 Arapahoe High School shooting; and 18year-old Andreas Perea, who is following his grandfather’s lead in helping others.
And after the last of the protest signs leave the streets following the march in Denver on Saturday afternoon, Anderson, Hayes and Perea say, they and Never Again Colorado will be sticking around.
Anderson
Anderson was walking down a hallway at Manual High School when his phone buzzed. Looking down, he saw the news: A gunman had killed 17 people. He wasn’t surprised.
He graduated last year from Manual and made an unsuccessful run for Denver’s school board. He is working at his alma mater as a student activities coordinator. (He’s also attending Metro State University and working as a legislative aide.)
Anderson created the Never Again Colorado Facebook page soon after the Parkland shooting, inviting people to a meeting three days later. Detractors told him people didn’t care about gun violence, at least, not enough to come to a weekend meeting to plan a march. But 250 people showed up. Of those, 60 were kids.
Anderson moved to Denver with his mother five years ago. He wanted to be the first black president, but Barack Obama beat him to it. Now he’s aiming to be the first black governor of Colorado.
A year ago this month, tension in Anderson’s home built to a breaking point, leaving him homeless. A friendly rival — someone who had been eyeing his spot as student body president — took him in.
He knew he wasn’t the only teen to end up homeless, which is why he ran for school board. He hoped could do something about the problem. But people didn’t want to listen to his youthful voice, he said.
So he’s creating his own platform, handing other teens the megaphone. And now the crowd has open ears, he said.
Hayes
Shannon Hayes was sitting in AP calculus during her junior year at Arapahoe High School when she heard gunshots.
A senior boy had come to kill that day, to act on a grudge against his debate coach. But he murdered 17-year-old Claire Davis instead, then killed himself.
Hayes’ classroom was one of the closest to the violence.
“There’s a part of me that’s like, ‘I shouldn’t even compare my experience to (Parkland),’ ” she said. “That just shows the normalization of it. I should not feel lucky just because there was only one other student killed at my school.”
Hayes is studying political science at the University of Colorado Denver. She is contemplating law school, aiming to be a lawyer for the ACLU. Although she at- tended the Women’s March the past two years, she said she’s never been an organizer before.
As Hayes described it, every shooting since the one she experienced has been a twist of the knife lodged in her heart. But Never Again Colorado has been helping her heal.
“Ever since the shooting in 2013, I’ve been looking for a venue to act and I didn’t know how to create that for myself,” she said.
The group met with and learned from organizers of the Women’s March and the March for Science.
There are many steps to take and variables to consider when planning a march, she said. Organizers needed to get a permit, a PA system and port-a-potties. They needed to feed their volunteers and make sure they have water.
A GoFundMe campaign, donations from volunteers and funds from Everytown for Gun Safety are paying for the march.
“It’s interesting that our genera- tion is leading this because baby boomers remember a time before Columbine,” Hayes said. “We don’t know a time before Columbine. We’re here to make sure we are the last generation that has to go through this.”
Perea
Andreas Perea went to the first meeting at Manual High School expecting to see adults and teachers. Instead, he saw a bunch of kids his age.
“Very rarely do we as people realize what moments will actually be the start of making history,” he said. “I had this realization of ‘This is the chance. This is our chance to finally be heard and to finally make change.’ ”
He finished high school a semester early. Right now he’s filling out scholarship applications while waiting to hear back from colleges — he’s applied to Yale, Princeton, the University of Denver.
Perea said he’s lived his whole life watching lobbyists hold sway over Congress. His family comes from the lowest possible economic bracket. He said they didn’t have the money for their voices to be heard.
His mother died when he was 4 years old. His father was never in the picture, so he bounced between family members, but it never worked out. When he was 7 years old, his grandfather moved to Denver from Idaho to take care of him and his younger brother.
His grandfather became his hero, teaching him that they have an advantage because they don’t see people based on their possessions or how much money they have. Everyone is deserving of a warm smile, compassion and kindness. Before he died as Perea was beginning his freshman year of high school, he imparted a drive to make the world a better place.
That’s what Perea is trying to do with the march, and he said he thinks his grandfather would be proud of what he’s doing.
Never Again Colorado is nonpartisan. The group wants comprehensive gun control, but they haven’t sat down to decide what that looks like for the organization, Anderson said. But talking to them individually, there were certain consistencies. No one wants to take away guns or undo the Second Amendment. But they do want more regulation.
It’s not just school shootings that they want to end. It’s suicide deaths by guns. It’s kids being killed while playing with their parents’ weapon. It’s the violence ravaging minority neighborhoods.
After the march, the group — which includes a 12-year-old board member — will focus on the legislature. Hayes was already there testifying in favor of a statewide ban on bump stocks, which failed to pass. They’re looking to also host town halls.
“This movement isn’t going to end the 24th,” Perea said. “The people who are hoping after the 24th (that) we’ll be bored and find something else, we won’t.”