In the spirit of Andy Goodman and the civil rights movement, John Lewis is leading a commendable sit-in for gun control – acknowledging Orlando and Sandy Hook – on the floor of the Billionaire’s “House.” Lewis announces a long sit-in. He isn’t going home…
On this issue and many others, it is time for the American people to fight back. Mass nonviolent civil disobedience in Washington and all over the country might force politicians to abandon vast unjust wars abroad, militarism (very hard…), and to acknowledge the fight for $15. This is a new time, and what John Lewis and others are doing right now, is promising.
NBC
Spirit of History’: House Democrats Hold Sit-in
on
Gun Control
from his days as a civil rights activist and the viral
nature of social media to stage a dramatic
sit-in Wednesday on the House floor with his
fellow Democrats to force a
vote on gun control.
the ordinary, sometimes you
have to make a way out of no way,”
said Lewis, one o the last living icons
of civil disobedience during the civil rights
movement. “There comesa time when you
have to say something, when you have to make a l
ittle noise, when you have to move your feet.
This is the time. Now isthe time to get in
the way. The time to act is now. We will
be silent no more.”
vowed “to occupy the
floor of the House until there is action.”
of Allegiance as a couple
dozen visitors in the gallery
looked on.
to “occupy” the floor, the
other Democrats began chanting:
“I’m sick and tired of being sick
and tired!” and “No bill, no break!”
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for Gun Legislation 2:01
“sometimes you are moved by history.”
functioning of the House
to this degree.
no compromise is reached,
t is largely up to Speaker Paul Ryan to
decide whether to use the
authority of the House to seek to clear
the floor and/or sanction
members, or to keep the House in
recess and wait out the issue.
because the House has not
formally gaveled into session.
using the video
streaming app, Periscope, to share
footage of the sit-in.
C-Span has been broadcasting
Peters’ video feed.
to lodge their protests
using the hashtags #NoBillNoBreak,
#NOMORESILENCE
and #goodtrouble.
I’m on the House floor with @repjohnlewis & Dems staging a sit-in to demand action on commonsense gun legislation
Outside, House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi made sure the rest of the country
knew about what was going on inside
the chamber with a hastily-arranged
press conference on the Capitol steps .
fight to bring legislation
to the floor,” Pelosi said. “We truly
believe that if there was a
vote, we would win the vote.”
movement tactics such as
sit-ins and speeches and new
school social media protests
helped ensure that the House
Democrats’ revolution on gun
policy reform was indeed televised.
and repeatedly beaten
back in the 1960s when he helped
lead the battle for equal rights
for African-Americans, took the
Republican leadership by surprise.
Speaker Paul Ryan a letter
demanding that he keep the House in
session instead of going into
recess so there could more debate on
gun control legislation in the
wake of the Orlando massacre.
nation’s history has underscored,
our country cannot afford to stand by
while this Congress continues
to be paralyzed by politics,” Lewis wrote.
a dramatic showdown over
gun policy Monday in the Senate.
the 60-vote threshold to
move forward in the Senate. The votes
came in the wake of the
deadly shooting spree in a gay nightclub
in Orlando — the nation’s
worst mass shooting in modern history
— and a subsequent
15-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats
who demanded action on
gun control.
Democratic Sens. Dianne
Feinstein of California, and Chris
Murphy of Connecticut, and two
other, less restrictive measures filed
by Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa,
and John Cornyn, R-Texas — addressed
background checks of
prospective gun buyers and the sale
of guns and explosives to
people on terrorist watch lists.
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filibuster by Senate Democrats who demanded
action on gun control, applauded the House’s moves.
President Barack Obama who in a Tweet
thanked Lewis for “leading on gun violence
where we need it most.” Vice President
Joe Biden called Lewis ” the keeper of the
nation’s conscience at times of challenge
and controversy.”
began to fill as curious
onlookers watched the impassioned
speeches. Care packages
with snacks and letters from supporters began pouring
in for the lawmakers.
D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Mark Warner. D-Virginia, joined their
House colleagues as did former members of Congress. The lawmakers,
some of them wiping away tears, shared stories of constituents
killed as a result of gun violence.
Obama Tweets Support For Democratic Sit-In and John Lewis Loves It
has been a sit-in happening in the House all day as Democrats
demand a vote on a measure that would stop people on the
no-fly list from buying guns.
from the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s who knows a
thing or two about sit-ins. President Barack Obama sent
him an encouraging tweet today in a show of support.