thank you so much for having me here
today
Playa girón was and I’m the founder
wants to be an action for instance
America and on December 14th in 2012 20
first-graders
and six educators were slaughtered in
the sanctity of Anila Jerusalem and the
mountain life I was devastated as a news
given but then the next day when I woke
up I was angry and I was agitated and I
knew that I needed to do something so a
mission or something like Mothers
Against Drunk Driving but the blood
safety and couldn’t find anything so I
thought well I’ll create a Facebook page
keep in mind that at the time I had
about sending my Facebook and there’s no
social media you know but I hope it went
about top on my counter in Indianapolis
and I created a page and I posted we
need to organize women and others around
the issue of a virus of prevention in
America within minutes
when Virginia connected me to a woman I
didn’t know in Brooklyn who said I want
to join your organization I didn’t
realize I had started an organization
but we had created this momentum because
that wasn’t some of the women had the
same idea that I did that day that we
needed to get out the sidelines with it
I was on the cover of USA Today within a
month we were a full fledged knock out
an organization with chapters springing
up all over the country and moms from
Chicago to Cheyenne held in Houston were
emailing a company and saying how can I
got the sidelines we started growing
rapidly it has such momentum all because
I had idea one person me a single mom in
Indiana that we could address that let’s
not do more than us sorry nothing who
does and fewer laws but by organizing
women and mothers to take of gun obvious
and lawmakers and I knew that we didn’t
have to convince Americans if 90% of
Americans already believe there should
be more regulations around us what we
needed to do was to be louder than the
gun extremists who believe that any mall
in a better house smaller means their
answer can be taken away
and who better to do that mothers who
are great their children will be taken
away so we started to grow very rapidly
we were organizing
we were using every search in media
outlets you create volunteers to have
meetings to do rallies and then we got a
call from the White House and these that
we’ve been weeding the mothers to
organize around this issue blue pail
President Obama Bush universal
background checks to Congress and we
worked very hard very intensely and then
two months later in April of 2013
Congress failed to pass universe pack
reps just by a handful of other senators
and I really thought well this is ends
nobody trying really hard country isn’t
ready for this yet gonna pack up our
things in a home but what I don’t
realize that when you work with tiny
women there is no going back there’s
only going forward and so our volunteers
didn’t you would intuitively given it to
their state houses into their workers
where they lived to do this that’s
anymore in Maryland for example the
governor Governor O’Malley decided to
act like Congress understanding broken
English through sweeping them for
legislation that our volunteers in
Maryland helped get over the whole line
that he think is publicly for that
and then we go to Starbucks was allowing
Logan ury
inside their stores which is a dangerous
practice it’s legal in 45 states
basically you can bring loaded
semi-automatic rifle in with you into
public and we started this India
campaign then within three months CEO
Starbucks came out a national television
and said guns are gonna overwhelm entire
source so we took these wins as brutally
and serious momentum and then we do
create cultural interchange across the
country so just do that but you want to
be clear that when it started once we
actually no experience I have no
political experience all in fact I
didn’t really know get started or even
what I was doing but here we are five
years later we have a chapter in every
state of the country we have 70,000 and
Technology rooms like myself we have
four million supporters so how do we get
here I think they’re three very simple
ingredients to the secret sauce at moms
to action the first is developed
released our grant so our monthly extra
members are all these we’re in our red
t-shirts in hearings at state houses
that happen also at rallies and in their
community life and they’re really proud
to wear their shirts they feel like
badass and speaking of event lobby in
fact some of you got our logo tattooed
on her arm so building a brand that
people want to want two seconds to pull
the little levers that you have
available to you women will be hold 70%
of the 500,000 elected positions in this
country’s small percentage but who are
the majority of the voting public and
80% of the spending decisions of our
families so those are the levers we do
qualities in our voices that are both
until there are more women and all this
will help us create Lammas that protect
our families and widely-known
act activism is too small you don’t have
to chain yourself to the White House
spends every day to be an artist our
volunteers are busy if family they have
jobs sells we breathe and think that
or send an email during their lunch
break or tweet before they go to bed
a lot of people drive hashtag activism
it actually works we were able to get
Chipotle to stop little bit curious
underscores in three days using the
hashtag burrito cephalus so these things
work that is the recipe for our success
in the last five years it is how us
killed hundreds the fact that those
across the country does engage through
12 schools that’s at a college campuses
permit lists carry expanding stands
around we tell all of those every year
in almost every state and you have to be
lost in eight states we’re closed
the average happen hole that allows gun
sales for that background check that
means the total 18 so now more than half
the country lives in a state that
requires a background check never does
yeah and we have passed laws 20 way
states keep guns out of the hands of
domestic abusers we know he likes these
law state lives and then in November we
will get eight out of eight elections
which we endorsed candidates including
the governors of New Jersey and Virginia
and what I’m really excited about is
that 13 months to be an action
volunteers actually way around this way
hundreds more saving that promise and
not doing elections it it really does go
to show that when you give people the
tools to sheet policy they realize they
have more power in making that policy so
in the last five years
an accidental activist I learned a lot
one of the most important lessons I’ve
learned is that if you see a problem in
America you do have the power to fix it
I was just so they need an them to
thought she together that money and here
we are – later
love’s been there she has become the
data to the NRA supplies we have been
successful because we’ve been
relentlessly show every single good
million across the country we’ve all
these better money with companies that
have
policies to protect our families and our
power is in our passion but you are the
next generation of changemakers you have
to decide what your passion is you have
to talk to friends and family and figure
out which levers you can pull now to
create change and it doesn’t have to be
on the national level even local change
matters author Alice Walker once said
activism is the rent I pay to live on
the planet decide now how you might spend your power
today
Playa girón was and I’m the founder
wants to be an action for instance
America and on December 14th in 2012 20
first-graders
and six educators were slaughtered in
the sanctity of Anila Jerusalem and the
mountain life I was devastated as a news
given but then the next day when I woke
up I was angry and I was agitated and I
knew that I needed to do something so a
mission or something like Mothers
Against Drunk Driving but the blood
safety and couldn’t find anything so I
thought well I’ll create a Facebook page
keep in mind that at the time I had
about sending my Facebook and there’s no
social media you know but I hope it went
about top on my counter in Indianapolis
and I created a page and I posted we
need to organize women and others around
the issue of a virus of prevention in
America within minutes
when Virginia connected me to a woman I
didn’t know in Brooklyn who said I want
to join your organization I didn’t
realize I had started an organization
but we had created this momentum because
that wasn’t some of the women had the
same idea that I did that day that we
needed to get out the sidelines with it
I was on the cover of USA Today within a
month we were a full fledged knock out
an organization with chapters springing
up all over the country and moms from
Chicago to Cheyenne held in Houston were
emailing a company and saying how can I
got the sidelines we started growing
rapidly it has such momentum all because
I had idea one person me a single mom in
Indiana that we could address that let’s
not do more than us sorry nothing who
does and fewer laws but by organizing
women and mothers to take of gun obvious
and lawmakers and I knew that we didn’t
have to convince Americans if 90% of
Americans already believe there should
be more regulations around us what we
needed to do was to be louder than the
gun extremists who believe that any mall
in a better house smaller means their
answer can be taken away
and who better to do that mothers who
are great their children will be taken
away so we started to grow very rapidly
we were organizing
we were using every search in media
outlets you create volunteers to have
meetings to do rallies and then we got a
call from the White House and these that
we’ve been weeding the mothers to
organize around this issue blue pail
President Obama Bush universal
background checks to Congress and we
worked very hard very intensely and then
two months later in April of 2013
Congress failed to pass universe pack
reps just by a handful of other senators
and I really thought well this is ends
nobody trying really hard country isn’t
ready for this yet gonna pack up our
things in a home but what I don’t
realize that when you work with tiny
women there is no going back there’s
only going forward and so our volunteers
didn’t you would intuitively given it to
their state houses into their workers
where they lived to do this that’s
anymore in Maryland for example the
governor Governor O’Malley decided to
act like Congress understanding broken
English through sweeping them for
legislation that our volunteers in
Maryland helped get over the whole line
that he think is publicly for that
and then we go to Starbucks was allowing
Logan ury
inside their stores which is a dangerous
practice it’s legal in 45 states
basically you can bring loaded
semi-automatic rifle in with you into
public and we started this India
campaign then within three months CEO
Starbucks came out a national television
and said guns are gonna overwhelm entire
source so we took these wins as brutally
and serious momentum and then we do
create cultural interchange across the
country so just do that but you want to
be clear that when it started once we
actually no experience I have no
political experience all in fact I
didn’t really know get started or even
what I was doing but here we are five
years later we have a chapter in every
state of the country we have 70,000 and
Technology rooms like myself we have
four million supporters so how do we get
here I think they’re three very simple
ingredients to the secret sauce at moms
to action the first is developed
released our grant so our monthly extra
members are all these we’re in our red
t-shirts in hearings at state houses
that happen also at rallies and in their
community life and they’re really proud
to wear their shirts they feel like
badass and speaking of event lobby in
fact some of you got our logo tattooed
on her arm so building a brand that
people want to want two seconds to pull
the little levers that you have
available to you women will be hold 70%
of the 500,000 elected positions in this
country’s small percentage but who are
the majority of the voting public and
80% of the spending decisions of our
families so those are the levers we do
qualities in our voices that are both
until there are more women and all this
will help us create Lammas that protect
our families and widely-known
act activism is too small you don’t have
to chain yourself to the White House
spends every day to be an artist our
volunteers are busy if family they have
jobs sells we breathe and think that
or send an email during their lunch
break or tweet before they go to bed
a lot of people drive hashtag activism
it actually works we were able to get
Chipotle to stop little bit curious
underscores in three days using the
hashtag burrito cephalus so these things
work that is the recipe for our success
in the last five years it is how us
killed hundreds the fact that those
across the country does engage through
12 schools that’s at a college campuses
permit lists carry expanding stands
around we tell all of those every year
in almost every state and you have to be
lost in eight states we’re closed
the average happen hole that allows gun
sales for that background check that
means the total 18 so now more than half
the country lives in a state that
requires a background check never does
yeah and we have passed laws 20 way
states keep guns out of the hands of
domestic abusers we know he likes these
law state lives and then in November we
will get eight out of eight elections
which we endorsed candidates including
the governors of New Jersey and Virginia
and what I’m really excited about is
that 13 months to be an action
volunteers actually way around this way
hundreds more saving that promise and
not doing elections it it really does go
to show that when you give people the
tools to sheet policy they realize they
have more power in making that policy so
in the last five years
an accidental activist I learned a lot
one of the most important lessons I’ve
learned is that if you see a problem in
America you do have the power to fix it
I was just so they need an them to
thought she together that money and here
we are – later
love’s been there she has become the
data to the NRA supplies we have been
successful because we’ve been
relentlessly show every single good
million across the country we’ve all
these better money with companies that
have
policies to protect our families and our
power is in our passion but you are the
next generation of changemakers you have
to decide what your passion is you have
to talk to friends and family and figure
out which levers you can pull now to
create change and it doesn’t have to be
on the national level even local change
matters author Alice Walker once said
activism is the rent I pay to live on
the planet decide now how you might spend your power
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