NOTE: OPTIMIZED FOR MOBILE VIEWING
This is a continuation of part 1, located here:
On June 4 2018, months after the national (worldwide, actually) protests that demanded congress “do something” about guns, it was announced by Cameron Kasky that March for our lives would be kicking off a summer tour.
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/march-for-our-lives-road-to-change-nationwide-tour
Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky was among several Marjory Stoneman Douglas students at a press conference announcing the March for Our Lives: Road to Change tour on Monday, June 4. The nationwide tour had been reported previously by Refinery29.
The Refinery29 article is where the tour (before it even launches) gets interesting.
March for Our Lives: Road to Change kicks off June 15 at the Peace March in Chicago, led by the students of St. Sabina Academy. The bus tour will make more than 75 stops through August. Student activists will also hold a separate, simultaneous tour making 27 stops in Florida alone, visiting every congressional district in the state.
June 15 at St. Sabina’s in Chicago, which is Father Michael Pfleger’s Church. Oddly enough, on May 27, a member of his personal “security detail” was arrested for carrying/possessing a firearm illegally at the church (yes, you heard that right).
Chicago’s most famous anti-gun Catholic priest was just hit with some embarrassing news when his bodyguard was arrested for illegally carrying a gun.
Loudmouth priest Father Michael Pfleger found the unwelcome news late in May when his bodyguard, Henry Eugene Hale, 35, was arrested outside the Father’s church. Police found that Hale did not have an Illinois firearm card or a concealed carry license and was therefore carrying the gun illegally.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department TOLDChicago City Wire that officers confronted Hale at the church at 1200 W. 78th Place when “they saw him holding a firearm.”
Illinois records show that Hale allowed his Firearms Identification Card (FOID) expire last year and did not renew it. He was also a certified security guard in the state, but allowing his FOID to lapse put that certification in jeopardy. According to his employment record he was once disciplined, but there are no details as to why.
(Side note: There is current legislation under review as of 4/15/19 in Illinois that would prompt law enforcement to seize firearms if a person’s FOID card is revoked or expires. Hale would have been “flagged.” In a lower court in Illinois, FOID cards have been deemed unconstitutional under the People Vs. Brown ruling).
So, we have the event kickoff at a place in which 2 weeks prior, a man who is directly connected to Father Pfleger (identified as being part of his ARMED security detail) was arrested outside his church because he was carrying an “illegal” gun. Think about that for a minute…….
The event was still a success for them (press wise), and even though someone close to the Father was arrested committing a state crime with a firearm, he was still embraced by March For Our Lives as a hero for gun control.
Now, one might ask why? Why Chicago to kick the tour off? In part one I talked about Superintendent Robert Runcie’s ties to Obama’s former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan (and also the email exchange between Arne and Rahm Emanuel on how to use the Sandy Hook shooting to advance the gun control agenda). Well, Arne is involved in Chicago being the tour’s first stop:
The Parkland students had first met with student activists from the South and West Sides of Chicago back in early March, less than three weeks after the shooting in Florida. The meeting, which was held at González’s parents’ house, had been closed to the media, but the next day González posted some photos, showing the now familiar and mostly white student activists from Stoneman Douglas with some other young people, all of them African-American, sitting around her parents’ screened-in swimming pool.
“I’ve never seen someone so excited to meet strangers before,” D’Angelo McDade, an eighteen-year-old who went on the trip to Florida, recently recalled of González. “She’s like, ‘Can I hug you guys?’ ” The meeting had been proposed by Arne Duncan, the former Secretary of Education under Barack Obama, and was paid for by the Emerson Collective, the philanthropic organization founded by Laurene Powell Jobs, where Duncan is a managing partner.
The young people went out to the pool behind González’s house while their older chaperones stayed inside. They played get-to-know-you games because, McDade said, “the amount of trauma that Parkland students and some of our Chicago students had gone through just that week and that month alone is too dramatic to constantly talk about it.”
Once again, more proof of political elitists and philanthropists running the show from early on, not the students. With all of this said, it’s time to dig into behind the scenes of “the Road To Change.”
The march on the 24th was a single event, but in order to maintain momentum, the show needed to hit the road. The supporters have been rallied and pumped up, but what would the next step be to “hold elected leaders accountable” for not voting in favor of gun control? Voting them out.
The tour kicked off in Chicago on June 15 and will make 75 stops in more than 20 states through August. Groups including Rock the Vote and the NAACP are partnering with the students to aid in registering young voters, especially because more than 4 million Americans turned 18 this year and are newly eligible to vote.
“In every city we visit, we have connected with young people who share our commitment to changing their communities and making them safer,” said Alfonso Calderon, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., in a statement. “We’re excited to continue on Road To Change throughout the rest of the summer, where we’ll continue to register young people to vote so that their voices are heard.”
Rock the Vote is a key player in this. It’s a non-profit organization (heavily “progressive” leaning) whose stated mission is “to engage and build the political power of young people.” Translation: register impressionable people to vote. One of the directors of the org is Michael Skolnik
Rock the vote also hosted the “register to vote” section on the March For Our Lives website
The link was on the Rock the Vote website, but it has since been removed (link dead)
There was also #TurnOutTuesday, which was a March For Our Lives brand (Powered by Rock the Vote)
They also sent supplies for this to public high schools (Arlington Heights, IL District 214 in this case)
Ok, so big deal, right? A “progressive” group is helping a “progressive” cause, registering people to vote (could be from either party I guess), who cares? Time to dive deeper into Skolnik and his organization, the SOZE agency. Let’s let his own bio start to paint the picture
https://about.me/michaelskolnik
Michael Skolnik was recently profiled in the NY Timesand identified as “the man you go to if you want to leverage the power of celebrity and the reach of digital media to soften the ground for social change.” But, besides all of that, he is most proud to be the father of Mateo Ali, a rambunctious five year old.
In his day job, he is the co-founder and partner of The Soze Agency, a social impact agency that partners with companies, non-profits, foundations and movements to create campaigns that uplift compassion, authenticity and equity. The Soze Agency is a worker’s owned cooperative.
He is a respected leader in the new social justice movement, and has helped ignite conversations around America’s relationship with race, the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown and Eric Garner, and the Obama and Trump presidencies.
“Helped ignite conversations” is a nice way of saying “stirring the pot and causing problems”. Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown deaths, does anyone recall what movement that started?
In 2013, the movement began with the use of the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter on social media after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of African-American teen Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Black Lives Matter became nationally recognized for its street demonstrations following the 2014 deaths of two African Americans: Michael Brown—resulting in protests and unrest in Ferguson
We’ll come back to Skolnik/BLM/MFOL Connection, after we talk about the NRA boycott and
Feb. 23, 2018
After ThinkProgress publishes a story highlighting the over two dozen corporations offering discounts to NRA members, several companies responded that they were terminating their agreements with the gun rights group. Activist Michael Skolnik posts on Twitter a list of the companies that still have a relationship with the NRA and launches the hashtag #BoycottNRA. Within 48 hours, MetLife, Hertz, Symantec Corp, Enterprise Holdings, First National Bank of Omaha, and other companies announced they were ending discount programs for NRA members.
There you have it. Mr. Skolnik spearheaded the arm twisting of companies who had ties to the National Rifle Association. He also helped spearhead the National School Walkout (announcing two days after the shooting)
Now, let’s look at his agency, SOZE, and their clients
Coming back to the highlighted NAACP part
#NeverAgain…..
I don’t think I need to elaborate more one that, so let’s do a turbo round of Skolnik and move on.
Skolnik was front and center when MFOL protested at NRA HQ on 8/4/18:
Skolnik Butted in when Slightly Offensive interviewed the students and started asking hard questions (FF to 5:41)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbu2PC5yHk
And so was Emiliana Guereca at 6:45
SOZE promoted both March For Our Lives AND Black Lives Matter (coming back from a bit ago above)
Matt Deitsch, Co-Founder of MFOL holding a Co-event with BLM (see activists in background).
Matt also interned with SOZE
And the evidence of BLM working side by side MFOL (because their movement was fading and needed to be brought back into the spotlight)
A teaser photo was included in part one (along with anti-Constitution NY governor Cuomo)
And the link, as stated, is Skolnik. He gets things done, but…..
Though none of its members would speak publicly, Black Lives Matter and other groups have occasionally looked askance at Mr. Skolnik, not only because he is white, but also because he is close to the establishment: the sort of activist who has Mayor Bill de Blasio’s private number in his cellphone or, for that matter, attends gala balls at the Apollo. But he was welcomed warmly that night by all sorts of people, including Alphonso B. David, who is the counsel to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, and Raymond Santana Jr., one of the Central Park Five.
Before I close out Skolnik, once again back to part one (Nina Vinik):
The idea behind the #whatifchicago panel was to invite the city into the discussion.
To respond to the suggestions were Chicago Police Department’s Superintendent, Garry McCarthy, Annette Nance-Holt, Chicago Firefighter, David Hemenway, Ph.D, Nina Vinik, Senior Program Officer of The Joyce Foundation and Michael Skolnik, Political Director to Hip-Hop pioneer, Russell Simmons and the Co-President of GlobalGrind.com.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Searches-For-a-Way-to-End-Gun-Violence-173729891.html
“On social media and in these raps … he’s talking about violence and really taunting people,” McCarthy said of Chicago rapper Chief Keef.
Keef was brought up several times as the panel discussed his comments about revenge on Twitter and in his lyrics. “[Chief Keef says], ‘That’s the only way I can do it is get a gun. I can get a gun in five minutes,’” said Michael Skolnik, political director to Russell Simmons.
Skolnik said he conducted high school studies that showed kids really can get a gun in five minutes, and that’s a problem.
An even bigger barrier to changing that? When anyone can get a gun on the corner, but they won’t tell you what corner or who they got the weapon from, said panelist Nina Vinik of the Joyce Foundation. They know who has a gun, they know who killed people, they just won’t tell.
And FINALLY, Skolnik helped get the #Resist Trump movement off the ground. From 1/10/17, 10 days before Donald Trump took office
http://anewdomain.net/the-movement-to-oppose-trump-12-things-to-do/
9 days before
Now, to briefly discuss Headcount.org
Like Rock the Vote, Headcount is another voter enrollment organization, but is usually at concerts that many young people attend. They also capitalized on the Road to Change tour
And they had some help
Pictured with David Hogg and Andy Bernstein is Valerie Jarrett, a Senior Adviser to former President Obama (and also on the right is Gene Sperling, Assistant to the President for Economic Policy under Presidents Clinton and Obama, but no need to talk about him)
“What we see here is young people saying, ‘We’re not asking for permission, we’re not intimidated by the NRA. We are empowered to ensure that we change our country.’ And they’re doing that,” she said.
Jarrett made the comments amid the “March for Our Lives” rally in Washington, D.C., and cities across the country pushing for action to curb gun violence.
The entire Road to Change was a cross country movement to fire up young impressionable people to attend concerts/events, get them on board with gun control (and various other left leaning causes), get them to commit to voting for one political ideology, and hope that more left leaning politicians were elected. That is all it was (and the impressionable youth and masses bought it). No matter what side of the political spectrum you’re on, it should cause you concern that a tragedy such as the MSD shooting was turned into a recruitment drive for the Democratic Party (and also a mass organizing to dismantle the 2nd amendment under the term “common sense gun safety laws”).
Still more to come, as we haven’t even touched the die-ins and money 🙂
The scary part is, yesterday (4/15/19) a new announcement was made. They are not done yet:
How do you organize a generation? How do you coordinate millions of young people focused on one of the most important issues of our day? How do you mobilize them and let them know that their time is now? You engage in every way you can with a fierce perseverance, because the stakes couldn’t be higher.
A year ago on February 18, four days after the mass shooting at our high school, we announced the March For Our Lives, an international demonstration that would ultimately involve nearly a million people from around the world demanding action to end gun violence in our communities.
We knew then, as we know now, that the voices of young people must be heard. Since the March, we have been dedicated to creating a space so all of us could send a message that we must do something about our nation’s gun violence epidemic.
Today, March For Our Lives takes another step in our effort to engage the public and to keep the gun violence prevention movement front and center. For the next two weeks, a series of billboards in Times Square will remind Americans that we must come together to save lives.
Over the next 14 days, this unifying message will reach nearly five and a half million people.
And from the time of this final edit (check date) it is live in Times Square
If you made it to the end, BONUS CONTENT!!!!
During the Road to Change, MFOL activists marched to protest at Smith & Wesson HQ
https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2018/08/21/50-miles-march-smith-wesson-springfield/
Earlier this year, when Massachusetts teenagers erupted into protest, marches, walkouts and rallies after the horrific school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the common refrain you heard from them was that their calls for gun reform were more than just a moment; they were a movement.
Now, several months later and after the fervor that followed the mass shooting in Florida has begun to die down, local teenagers now say they will remind everyone of the dangers that persist in a country where widespread, under-regulated, high-powered weapons are readily available. On Thursday, they plan to begin a four-day trek from Worcester to the Smith & Wesson facility in Springfield in a 50 Miles More march, one of several planned around the country.
“This 50 Mile walk is about accountability,” student organizer Vikiana Petit-Homme said in a statement. “Smith & Wesson continues to profit from guns used in horrific mass shootings and daily gun violence in our communities. We have had enough. We are demanding that they work with us to be a part of the solution, not the problem.”
As you know, the Women’s March and MFOL are closely connected, which brings us to Linda Sarsour and the Women’s March (who organized the national school walkout on 3/14/18)
https://freebeacon.com/issues/womens-march-announces-school-walk-gun-control/
Now, why would a true gun control activist promote an armed counter protest?
Now, enhance
Enhance
Roll mark covered with tape. I wonder what it is (and what does this have to do with their friends marching to protest Smith & Wesson)?
Yikes! Bet they thought no one would notice 😉
And nice job camera guy
Illinois Watchdogs For Constitutional Rights 