Generational change is not only a constant in society but a prime mover of change.   In the 20th century we look back at what Tom Brokaw named his book "The Greatest Generation"    An American people that grew up during the Great Depression of the 1930's and then found the courage and resolve to fight another life and death struggle WWII.  In the 1960's the civil rights movement was carried by young black men and women who saw the injustice of their circumstance.  And in that same decade my generation protested the Vietnam war which was fought with little purpose to defend this country but incurred some of the largest causalities of death to our young men and women and the intermittent slaughter of Vietnamese men, women, and children.

The younger generation challenged the older generations to examine their belief system.  And whether it was isolationism in the era of the "greatest generation or using the "domino theory" when it came to the threat of communism to justify military involvement in South East Asia in the sixth decade of the 20th century, the young generations stood their ground against severe criticism from their older counterparts.

Then without warning on an otherwise average day in 2018, as has happened all too often in the United Sates this happened.

On February 14, 2018, a mass shooting was committed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Seventeen people were killed and seventeen more were wounded, making it one of the world's deadliest school massacres. The suspected perpetrator, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz, was identified by witnesses and arrested shortly afterward. He confessed, according to the Broward County Sheriff's Office.

This could have been a marker along side all the other markers in our history where mass gun violence occurs, especially in schools and the predicted reactions.  First unimaginable grief and emotional outbursts of how, why and what can be done to prevent these tragedies.  Then the automatic fire of the NRA and those who support an incorrect interpretation and worship of the second amendment, that despite these tragedies nothing can or should be done when it comes to sensible gun control measures.  Including the banning of assault weapons, some that had previously been banned only to have congress not renew the Brady Bill of the 1990’s.  Finally, the aftermath of talking heads speaking over each other not to each other to find solutions rather then one more issue to divide us.  And yet for a group of students in Parkland this which had been the most terrifying moment in their lives became a defining moment of their character and perhaps their generation.

This group of young men and women said enough.  They called for action. Not meaningless thoughts and prayers and inadequate responses from politicians.  And these students now became citizens of the world who recognized injustice and made their voices heard.  They called for action and they placed a mantle on themselves, Generation A.  And while it is still early that their resolve and those of their generation will persevere they already have one thing in common with the generations that preceded them.  They took that first step.  By raising their collective voices and following with their own actions of organizing marches like the one that took place in Washington D.C. last month they now have taken a stand against the epidemic of gun violence in America.

There can be no mistake their task will extremely difficult.  Monumental change does not happen without emotional pain.  There will be setbacks and times when their message will fall on deaf ears.  After all they are taking on two formidable foes.  The NRA and their vast lobbying network and the politicians of Washington D.C. many who serve at the pleasure of the Gun Lobby.  They have faced and will continue to face lies and deceit from those who wish to see them fail, the right wing of this country who will through words and pictures do their best to discredit them. Moreover their “fame: will come at a price   for supporting a cause that a substantial part of the older generation see as a sacred right to own firearms.  And that any kind of limit to their availability is an encroachment on their civil liberties.

The hubris belief that a laissez faire approach to regulating guns is embraced by an older  generational belief shaped by the counterfeit conviction that the right to own a firearm any kind of firearm is somehow a guarantee that the federal government can be stopped from becoming tyrannical against its citizens.  Neglecting the common sense that their ability to have and fire a gun could hardly withstand the might of the American government’s military and its massive capabilities.

The students at Parkland also have one more hurdle to deal with they may or may not realize.  For in their struggle to change the existing culture of guns in America they may have not had the time to process what truly happened that tragic day.  Their lives were changed that today in a way that is immeasurable.  Their desire to put action behind their words sped right past the grieving stage to anger.  They may indeed be aware of their conscious sadness for their classmates and friends who were murdered in cold blood that day, but it is not clear if they have been able (as one can ever be able) to address their sadness and their fears in a real sense.  The sub conscious is not always easy to understand and can be unforgiving.  Those who perished we bury but trauma cannot be buried no matter how far we choose to push them into the recesses of our mind.

Generation A has now begun a journey and like their counterparts from years past don’t know where their destination will be.  It could be a period of enlightenment for them and hopefully the country.  It could morph into being aware of other issues that are also clouding their future like climate change and the inherent danger they may one day face.  The relevance of facts and truth they have chose to partner with, in a time where mendacious words seems to fill the air like the choking smoke of a cigarette, is refreshing.   Some worry, that this moment will not become the movement that is needed to be trans-formative.  Others will continue to harbor ingrained resentments against them.  On the eve of the 50^th anniversary Martin Luther King’s assassination by a bullet this  phrase remains ubiquitous.  “The Struggle Continues”