((PKG)) After Parkland: Part 4
From Ashes to the Canvas
((Banner: Aftermath of a School Shooting))
((Producers: Beth Mendelson, Tom Detzel, Cliff Hackel))
((Camera: Mike Burke, Sean Lunski, Alexander Gilles, Adam Greenbaum))
((Map: Parkland, Florida; Washington, D.C.))
((NATS))
Rabbi Mendy Gutnick: This place, where Alyssa rests
Phil: The problem at MSD is that
Protestor 1: We’re here to talk about gun violence, right?
Crowd: NRA bye bye
Manuel Oliver: This is more activism than art. I am demanding change.
Protestor 2: It’s possible if you have the conversation, to find the common ground
((Banner: After Parkland: Episode 4 / From Ashes to the Canvas))
((NATS))
((Locator: Parkland, Florida, February 14, 2018))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): Our son is a victim of gun violence. He got shot four times and died. Bang, bang, bang, bang.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): And I saw the Parkland kids turning into March For Our Lives
((David Hogg, March For Our Lives))
And there are people who stand against you because you’re too young. We say no more.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): It’s not easy to use your son’s images to, to give messages when your son was shot. The legend of my son needs to have a big impact. I owe that to Joaquin. I owe to Joaquin that he becomes
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
that person that is fighting from the other side and people start listening to his message.
((VO Manuel Olive)): It’s not about my message. It’s about Joaquin’s message. The mural that we did today here in DC, it’s pretty special. We’re getting closer to Congress. We lost our son but we are
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
proud parents of a victim that is becoming an activist.
((VO Manuel Olive, shots of Patricia and Manuel Oliver)): ….and he won’t stop doing what he’s doing. We follow the kids. We believe in them. They are going to change these things. And every time I think about it, I see Joaquin as part of them.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
And that’s where the being proud of my son comes from.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): I don’t have another job now. This is my job. This is my future and my present. I was able to find a connection between what I used to do and what I’m doing now, which is good.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
This is my comfort, uncomfort zone.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): This is more activism than art. This is not about the art piece. It’s about the moment that you have, to make a statement.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
I used to paint wearing all the wristbands of the organizations and they became uncomfortable at some point, with a lot of them, and I wanted to support all of them together. So, since then, I decided to put them on the shoes, on Joaquin’s shoes. So, every time I have an event or something, I will just wear these shoes. I want to feel like I’m walking in his shoes.
((Source: Manuel and Patricia Oliver))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): It’s an extension of Joaquin. He can still be here.
((Locator: Election Night 2018))
((CNN Announcement)): Even though some House races remain undecided, CNN can now make this projection with a very....
((VO Matt Dietsch)): I was really reserved on election night.
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
I wasn’t a part of the really intense emotion that a lot of my friends were having and I told them because….
((VO Matt Dietsch)): ….we’re still figuring this out. I was like, look, like, this is the first election cycle that we invested anything in, and this voting bloc of young people is radically different than any generation in the way that we see these issues.
((NATS))
And I just can’t wait to see what the future holds.
((VO John Della Volpe)): We found that school shootings….
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
….was the one issue that most highly correlated with young people participating….
((VO John Della Volpe)): ....and has been the highest level of participation at least in the last 32 years and likely going beyond that.
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
It was young people voting overwhelmingly Democrat. That essentially accounts for two percentage points in the national vote.
((VO John Della Volpe)): There are at least ten congressional races where the margin was less than two points. So, you can easily make the case that young people were decisive in about ten congressional races.
((VO Ed Goeas)): Did the Parkland kids motivate….
((Ed Goeas, Republican Pollster/Strategist))
....the higher turnout? Not necessarily. They were again one of the brushstrokes, message wise, that it did get young people….
((VO Ed Goeas)): ….looking to vote a certain way. Can they feel good about what they did on adding to that increased involvement and turnout?
((Ed Goeas, Republican Pollster/Strategist))
Absolutely. Can they take credit for being the sole motivator? I just don’t see it in the numbers.
((Michael Hammond, Legislative Counsel, Gun Owners of America))
The reason why Ron DeSantis won the governorship of Florida and why Rick Scott won the senate seat was because pro-gun people were activated in revulsion for the anti-gun rhetoric being spewed on them by the Parkland people.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Locator: Road to Change Tour, Los Angeles, California, July 20, 2018))
((VO Matt Deitsch)): Manny always is Joaquin’s father….
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….and I feel like when he’s with us, he’s a March For Our Lives activist.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Get involved and that'll be a great way to fight it because we’re going to be have a lot more soldiers on our side.
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
He loves just being part of this with us.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Locator: Road to Change Tour, Orange County, California, July 21, 2018))
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
We have a very special guest here who has put a lot of work in working with March For Our Lives and with the community coalition. So, we just want to invite the Olivers to come up here and share some words with everyone here today.
((VO David Cullen)): There’s also an amazing kind of relationship between the March For Our Lives kids and Manuel Oliver.
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
Manny is the only adult that they allow into their meetings.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO David Cullen)): He’s the exception.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Joaquin was fighting for this before I even had an idea that this could become an issue.
((VO David Cullen)): Manny’s also the surrogate there for Joaquin who Manny feels….
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
….like would definitely have been a part of this.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
We do not have Joaquin at home, but we have a bunch of kids out there. Now it’s our duty to march for your lives. Thank you very much.
((VO Matt Dietsch)): When you really go into the deep roots of….
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….what founded our nation and what has perpetuated....
((VO David Cullen)): Manny and Matt have a really great bond. They’re both artists in different ways. I mean, you know, they’re both visual artists, but they’re also really thinkers.
((Dave Cullen, Author, “Parkland: Birth of a Movement”))
….and so I think they kind of think in the same kind of ways.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO David Cullen)): They’re just like, you know, ideas just bouncing off of each other constantly.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
Do you have an idea of how we can increase the number of….
((VO John Della Volpe)): When those generational coalitions can be built, that is….
((John Della Volpe, Director of Polling, Harvard Kennedy School))
....the foundation for something that extends beyond a one issue or one year campaign into a real movement.
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((David Hogg, March For Our Lives))
We can and we will change the world.
((VO John Della Volpe)): As I think about 2018, I can think of no one who deserves more credit for youth participation, for this awakening of civic participation in electoral politics than the young students, the families, and the community members within Parkland.
((Source: The International Children’s Peace Prize))
((Locator: The International Children’s Peace Prize, Cape Town, South Africa, November 20, 2018))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): South Africa was a great event. The kids were nominated to receive the kids’ Peace Prize Award.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): Joaquin was going to be on stage with us when we accepted the award.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): They wanted me to talk about them, this Parkland movement.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
It’s an honor to be here.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): So that was a privilege for me.
((Manuel Oliver, Parkland Parent))
You push it and you move it forward and you succeeded, and then you decided that you could be an option for parents, like Patricia and myself, to feel better to find a light on that nightmare. And guess what? You succeeded. Let me get closer to him.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): I took the 3D sculpture of Joaquin with me so he was next to me while I was giving my speech. Desmond Tutu was there and I asked Desmond Tutu to bless the sculpture and he did.
((Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate))
The March For Our Lives movement is a prime example for millions of children….
((Source: March For Our Lives))
((VO Desmond Tutu))....around the world, that children are changemakers. They demonstrate that if you work together, trust each other, and build on one another, you can move the world.
((Source: The International Children’s Peace Prize))
((VO Manuel Oliver)): And this is just the beginning. You, the young people, you have a white blank canvas.
((VO Manuel Oliver)): Let’s draw it the right way.
((Source: AP, Reuters, AFP))
((VO Michael Hammond)): After Columbine, the narrative was….
((Michael Hammond, Legislative Counsel, Gun Owners of America))
....the gun movement is through. Gun control is now inexorable. The same was true after Virginia Tech. The same was true after Sandy Hook.
((VO Michael Hammond]: In none of those cases was it a tipping point. The people who love guns, love guns. The people who hate guns, hate guns, and they will continue to remain in a delicate balance pushing and pulling against each other.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): March For Our Lives is going to continue organizing to scale. We have….
((Source: AP))
((Matt Dietsch, Chief Strategist, March For Our Lives))
….thousands of people all around the country right now as we speak, organizing locally around gun violence prevention, raising money, knocking doors, getting people registered to vote.
((VO Matt Deitsch)): It didn’t stop because the election is over. It's just picking up again.
