Opinion Yolanda Renee King: My generation has to stand up against gun violence

Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., is an activist and eighth-grader.

I never met my grandfather the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. because he was taken from my family by gun violence. But I know the mark that he and my grandmother Coretta Scott King left on American history. I know that the challenges my generation faces resemble those that led my grandparents to march on Washington and other cities to demand change.

I am 14 years old, and once again I am afraid. Two major mass shootings in 10 days. In Buffalo, our elders, many of whom share the same complexion as me, were gunned down while simply shopping for groceries. In Uvalde, Tex., 19 children not too much younger than me were murdered in their school.

Enough is enough.

Most people won’t take a 14-year-old seriously when it comes to addressing gun violence. What do I know, right? Well, I know when it is time for change. I know it is my duty as an American to use the platform given to me by my grandparents’ sacrifices to uplift the voices of my peers. It is my duty to speak up as a child who lost both her grandfather and great-grandmother to gun violence. For too long, voices like mine have gone ignored.

Read the full article on The Washington Post.