By Dawn Onley

Good morning, Monday!

I’m refreshed and reenergized and eager to jump into this day with all of the vigor, passion, and fervor of hundreds of thousands of students who marched in Washington DC and across other cities in this nation and world on Saturday. I was not able to attend the actual march, but I’m certainly with the students and I’ve been glued to TV footage and news articles of the protest.

I’m so unbelievably proud. And thankful for their collective voice. Some of their words brought me to tears. Young people often get a bad rap. This rally showed that they are as focused and driven to see social change as previous generations of students. Just as movements in the past led by students helped to bring about social and civil rights change, this movement feels like it will accomplish the same thing. The majority of the protesters are of voting age and they don’t appear to be backing down any time soon.

It’s a new day.

I’m grateful for their commitment to put words to action and say enough is enough. As one of my favorite signs from the protest indicated, “You can’t choose when to be pro-life.” If you are against abortion, you need to be as passionate about tightening the reigns of gun access to make it harder for people to get guns and to carry out atrocious acts with them.

This is no time for your silence. There is too much at stake.

The tide is changing. Politicians would be wise to pay attention.