Over the weekend, March for Our Lives: Massachusetts students and Stop Handgun Violence partnered to hold an ARTivism event to raise awareness about gun violence in the United States. On Saturday morning, Massachusetts students gathered to spray paint a design created by local student Griffin Gould in Graffiti Alley in Cambridge. The design featured an inverted American flag with a firearm formed by the stars of the flag and the words “This is America.”
“I created this design alongside dozens of other young activists from across New England, all of them part of the Gun Violence Prevention movement” said student activist Griffin Gould, junior at Arlington High School. “Through our wide range of experiences and expertise, we know how deeply toxic gun culture is engrained in America and see this design as an opportunity to expose the true colors of the national gun violence epidemic.”
“On the heels of another mass shooting, this time in Virginia Beach, students refuse to be silent” said student activist Elya Mariutsa, a student at Northeastern University. “Our politicians are making crucial decisions about services, programming, gun violence and climate change. The consequences of these decisions will be fully inherited by young people, and that’s why we are seeking to be a part of the solution rather than mitigation. ARTivism and other forms of awareness building are the tools that we use to be a part of this democratic process. While we mourn the loss of the twelve lost in Virginia Beach, we will continue to fight for a safer future.”
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Stop Handgun Violence(SHV) is a Massachusetts based non-profit organization committed to the prevention of gun violence through education, public awareness, effective law enforcement and common-sense gun laws. SHV has been the lead advocate in Massachusetts for enactment of the most effective gun violence prevention laws and first in the nation consumer protection regulations. The organization does not seek to restrict Constitutional rights, but advocates only for common sense legislation that will help save lives. For more information, go to www.stophandgunviolence.org