Tag Archives: Emma Gonzalez

Demi Lovato to Take Part in Vote With Us Virtual Rally on “Vote Early Day,” Saturday, October 24th

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Demi Lovato is encouraging you to vote with her…

The 28-year-old part-Mexican American singer will appear during the Vote With Us virtual rally, which is set to livestream on “Vote Early Day,” on Saturday, October 24th.

Demi Lovato

Lovato joins a roster of A-list participants that includes Justin Bieber, Mark Ruffalo and Vic Mensa.

Andra Day will also perform “Remember I Bleed” and the War and Treaty will cover John Lennon’s “Power to the People” during the three-hour event, which highlights early vote events in Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and Phoenix.

The Vote for Us livestream will also show clips from the upcoming documentary Us Kids, featuring survivors of the Parkland school shooting-turned-activists Emma González, David Hogg, Jaclyn Corin, Samantha Fuentes, Bria Smith and Alex King.

“To vote is to harness your power, and we have to use the power that’s given to us,” Gonzalez said in a statement. “Don’t just vote for yourself, vote for every person; for every person whose basic rights are at risk, for every person who can’t vote because they are undocumented or incarcerated, for every person who is affected by the system and for every person who fought with everything they had just to give us the right to vote. Vote because you can. Vote because we haven’t always been able to.”

Organizers behind advocacy groups We Stand United, March On, Future Coalition, Us Kids Film (Sundance 2020), Black Voters Matter, M.O.B.B., Headcount, Vote Early Day, Future Coalition, All in for Voting, Pull Up Neighbor, Black Men Vote, Ballot Ready, Milk Studios, Collective Education Fund, APAI Vote, RepresentUs, League of Women Voters, The Early Vote, and Civic Power Media have united for the first time for the Vote With Us event, which aims to increase voter turnout among young voters.

“Young people are done watching older generations gamble our futures away for the sake of power,” said Katie Eder, Executive Director of Future Coalition, said in a statement. “We’ve spent much of 2020 making our message loud and clear in the streets, and we’re going to make it binding at the ballot box, too. After November 3, nobody will say anymore that young people don’t show up. We are showing up in record numbers and we are the ones who are about to decide the future of our country.”

The Vote With Us rally will livestream both at the official site and YouTube as well as partner coalitions’ social media pages on October 24th beginning 3:00 pm EST.

Lovato has upped her political voice in the last week, with the release of her Trump-bashing song “Commander In Chief.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Among the Real-Life Heroes Celebrated in DC Comics’ “Wonder Women of History” Graphic Novel Anthology

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is getting illustrated…

DC Comics has unveiled the new young adult graphic novel anthology Wonder Women of History, which celebrates real-life heroes, including the 30-year-old Bronx-born Puerto Rican politician who currently serving as the U.S. Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Ocasio-Cortez, or simply AOC, as she’s known, drew national recognition when she won the Democratic Party‘s primary election for New York’s 14th congressional district in June 2018, defeating Democratic Caucus chair Joe Crowley, a 10-term incumbent, in what was widely seen as the biggest upset victory in the 2018 midterm election primaries. She defeated Republican opponent Anthony Pappas in the November general election.

Taking office at age 29, Ocasio-Cortez is the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. She has been noted for her substantial social media presence relative to her fellow members of Congress

Female and non-binary writers and artists tell 17 stories of those “who take up Wonder Woman‘s iconic mantle” in their respective fields of science, sports, entertainment, politics, social justice and more, according to the DC Comics blog. 

New York Times bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson edited the collection after recently writing the original graphic novel Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed.

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez, Wonder Women of History also spotlights singer-actress Janelle Monáe, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Iskwew Air CEO and Founder Teara Fraser, LGBTQ+ rights activist Edith Windsor, transgender activist and Stonewall uprising figure Marsha P. Johnson, Parkland shooting survivor and gun control advocate Emma Gonzalez, disability rights activist Judith Heumann, NASA‘s first Hispanic female astronaut Ellen Ochoa, deputy director of Wuhan Institute of Virology and China’s “Bat Woman” Dr. Shi Zhengli, 23-time Grand Slam winning tennis player Serena Williams, stand-up comic Tig Notaro, actress Keiko Agena, and the first African American gymnast to win an individual Olympic medal Dominique Dawes.

The graphic novel will officially hit bookstore shelves everywhere on December 1. The anthology will also include portraits of illustrators Weshoyot Alvitre, Colleen Doran, Agnes Garbowska, Bex Glendining, Ashley A. Woods, and Safiya Zerrougui.

Wonder Women of History is already available for pre-order here.

Miguel to Perform During ‘Black Power Live’ Digital Benefit

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Miguel is bringing the Power…

The 34-year-old half-Mexican American R&B singer and Grammy winner will perform during Black Power Live, a digital benefit taking place on Saturday, June 27th, on Twitch.

Miguel

The event will be hosted by Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors and feature a mix of musical performances and conversations with black artists and organizers, including the half-black “Adore You” singer, Doja Cat and Blood Orange’s Dev Hynes. 

Black Power Live is meant to be “a celebration of the incredible work done by organizers and activists around the world and will be a chance to reflect, regroup and talk about next steps.”

The musical lineup for Black Power Live will feature jazz star Terrace Martin debuting a new piece, “Racism on Trial,” featuring Kamasi Washington, Denzel Curry, Robert Glasper, Alex Isley and others. 

Additional performers include Ne-Yo, Aloe Blacc, HO99O9 with Travis Barker, Vagabon, Jessie Reyez, Serpentwithfeet and Twin Shadow.

Along with the music, Black Power Live will feature interviews and discussions with a mix of artists and activists including Parkland survivor Emma González, Dear White People creator Justin Simien and author and filmmaker Dream Hampton.

The event will begin at 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET and end at 12:00 am PT/3:00 am ET. 

Money raised will benefit the Crenshaw Dairy Mart, Trap Heals, Transgender Law Center, Sankofa and Black Men Build.

A complete lineup, and registration for the event, is available here.

Emma Gonzalez Gives Emotional Speech at Variety’s Power of Women Event

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Emma Gonzalez is encouraging women to rise up and vote…

The 18-year-old Cuban American activist and gun reform advocate was among the honorees at Variety’s Power of Women event, an annual event that recognizes some of Hollywood’s most philanthropic women whose efforts have made a significant impact to their chosen charities and causes.

Emma Gonzalez

During her speech, Gonzalez reflected on the myriad of school shootings that have taken place over the past several years. Gonzalez couldn’t hide her raw emotions as she shared her own experiences with the effects of gun violence, before calling upon audience members to use their public platforms to take a stand for gun regulation.

Eight months after surviving the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Gonzalez said she can still feel the pain she experienced that day as if it’s happening right now.

“Nothing made sense in those days except for the fact that there was nothing to stop this from happening to anyone in a country with practically no gun safety laws,” she said.

Soon after, Gonzalez became a representative for the March for Our Lives organization, fighting for gun control legislation across America — a battle that Gonzalez said left her and her friends feeling “as though we are holding the country on our still-developing shoulders.”

Gonzalez also highlighted the presence of gun violence outside of the school environment, pointing to the numerous shootings at nightclubs, concerts, airports, and more. “Gun violence isn’t picky,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez went on to express gratitude that the voices of young people are finally being heard. “Before our voices were scoffed at and talked over. Now I’m an 18-year-old girl who’s here today,” Gonzalez said to claps from the audience. However, she also recognized that the people in the audience had the power to carry their voices further.

Gonzalez listed off the numerous victims of gun violence she met during her 64-day tour across America, including the victims of the Las Vegas and Charlottesville shootings, whose stories brought her to tears as she spoke.

Gonzalez then discussed some of the misconceptions surrounding March for Our Lives, making it clear that the organization is not trying to take away guns, before calling on audience members to use their own platforms to encourage more people to vote.

“Everybody in this room is in a unique position, because you are here, you have proven to hold power,” Gonzalez said. “To each of you powerful women I say this, you know that you are forces to be reckoned with, you can and have inspired peace and understanding and, most importantly, right now you can inspire your audience to vote. Now more than ever women need to continue to rise up.”