Maxwell here --  I’m the National Organizing Director for March For Our Lives. Have you ever done the icebreaker Rose, Bud, Thorn? There are a few different names for it, but you essentially name your rose (something great that happened to you this week), your bud (something that has potential to be great, like a budding rose), and your thorn (something not so great). Here are my rose, bud, and thorn for this week:

• Rose 🌹 We won some AMAZING gun violence prevention victories in Virginia -- the NRA’s own backyard! This slate of legislative wins was pushed by our local Virginia chapters -- showing the power of youth organizing!
• Bud 🌱 Last month was the first March since 2002 that there wasn’t a school shooting.
• Thorn 🥀 People are freaking out and stockpiling weapons, with people lining up around the block to purchase firearms. We’re working on ways to fix this and we’ll keep you updated on how you can help.

Our Virginia and Mid-Atlantic chapters fought tooth and nail for the recently-passed gun violence prevention legislation. We even slept on the floor of the Virginia State Capitol so we could lobby for peace and justice without having to walk through thousands of armed, militant, civilians. After thousands of phone calls, emails, and meetings, we can finally say that Virginia has passed stronger background checks, limits on handgun sales, extreme risk protection order legislation, and more -- all to keep our homes, schools, and communities safer. And our 300+ other chapters around the country are fighting like hell, too. Want to join them?

These wins demonstrate the power of young, collective organizing, the power of showing up and fighting for what you believe in, even when it’s hard. It shows Our Power. If you’re ready to fight with us, to lobby with us, to organize with us, to vote with us, sign the Our Power pledge. 

Let me explain that bud a bit more. At surface level, this may seem like a rose itself, right? But here’s the thing -- it shouldn’t take schools to be closed to stop school shootings. And we shouldn’t settle with this and view it as a win. We need to continue advocating for strong, audacious gun violence prevention policies in every city, county, and state across the country.

We need you in this fight with us. We need you to help turn that bud into a rose and prevent that thorn from turning into the norm. I know we can do it if we join together. And I believe that we will win.

In solidarity,
Maxwell Frost
National Organizing Director
March For Our Lives

P.S. We know times are really tough right now. If you are able to donate towards our chapters’ legislative actions right now, please click here. If not, we still appreciate your support  -- and we hope things start to get better real soon.