Fifth grader Naomi Wadler almost stole the show with her speech at the March For Our Lives rally, speaking out for “girls who don’t make the front page of every national newspaper.“
“I am here today to acknowledge and represent the African-American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper whose stories don’t lead on the evening news,” the 11-year-old said. “I represent the African-American women who are victims of gun violence, who are simply statistics instead of vibrant beautiful girls full of potential.”
Wadler helped lead a walkout earlier this month at her Alexandria, Va. elementary school. The school even paused to recognize Courtlin Arrington, the teen who was killed at an Alabama high school on March 7.
“For far too long, these black girls and women have been just numbers,” she said. “I am here to say never again for those girls too.”
She continued: “I urge everyone here and everyone who hears my voice to join me in telling the stories that aren’t told, to honor the girls, the women of color who are murdered at disproportionate rates in this nation. I urge each of you to help me write the narrative for this world and understand so that there girls and women are never forgotten.”
Wadler soon started trending on social media:
In her speech, Wadler reminded elected officials that she maybe young now, but that would not always be the case.
“My friends and I might still be 11, and we might still be in elementary school but we know,” she said. “We also know that we stand in the shadow of the Capitol, and we know that we have 7 short years until we too have the right to vote.”
Go Naomi!