Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Cyndy Thomas of Saratoga is organizing the Oakland version of the Million Mom March scheduled for Washington, D.C., on Mothers Day.
Silicon Valley moms head for Oakland
Saratogan heads up local version of national march
By Leigh Ann Maze
As mothers like Saratogan Cyndy Thomas know, a lot can happen in nine months. The Million Mom March, a Mother's Day rally in Washington, D.C. against gun violence, was conceived after the Granada Hills Day Camp shooting in California.
On Aug. 10, 1999, a man opened fire on a Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills, wounding five people including three small children.
Nine months later, thanks to a mother in New Jersey, a movement has been born.
Thousands of mothers and others are preparing to march on Washington, D.C. on Mother's Day, May 14, to call on Congress to enact "common sense" gun control legislation.
Although mothers and churches in the Washington, D.C., area are opening their doors to out-of-town marchers, many, like Thomas, could not fly out to Washington for the march. So she got involved with a group of West Coast mothers having their own Million Mom March in Oakland, California, on the same day. Thousands of people from the entire San Francisco Bay Area are expected to attend the march around Lake Merritt from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m..
Nine free buses with a capacity of 47 people each will leave from several stops in the Silicon Valley to take local marchers to Oakland.
"I am motivated out of what I feel is right," said Thomas, a licensed clinical social worker, on why she is involved. "I am lucky to have living children who have never been touched by a gun," she said, adding that two of her four children will be in the Oakland march. Not all at the march have been so lucky.
People from all walks of life and experiences are expected to attend. Those who have lost loved ones to guns, those who have not been touched by gun violence and want to keep it that way, and "anyone who has ever had a mother," Thomas said.
Saratogans Steve and Annette Ladowitz, owners of Fast Signs Campbell, donated a 15-foot bright pink banner for the Silicon Valley marchers to walk behind. "We always like to get involved in causes we believe in. It's our way of helping out," said Steve Ladowitz.
At the May 9 Saratoga City Council meeting, council members plan to endorse the Million Mom March in Oakland.
The marchers hope that their voices will be heard by Congress despite the powerful gun lobby. The marchers want Congress to enact into law the requirement of extensive background checks for all gun owners. They also want the government to treat guns as they do cars, and require a license, registration and proper training to own one. The mothers also are asking that all handguns have safety locks, a limit of purchases to one handgun per month and zero tolerance enforcement of gun laws.
"It's going to take many years and a lot of money," Thomas said about reaching their goal. "This is only the beginning."
The marchers carry heavy statistics along with them on their campaign trail. In 1997, 12 young people, from zero to 19 years old, died from gunfire every day in the U.S. Gun homicide is the fourth leading cause of death among young people 10 to 14 years of age and the second leading cause of death among people 15 to 24 years of age.
While these statistics may seem a world away from sleepy Saratoga, that does not mean that the community is exempt from guns. According to statistics from the Sheriff's Office Westside Substation, in Saratoga this year there was one interrupted burglary in which a gun was used and one robbery in which the assailant pretended to have a gun in his waistband. "We all know that guns are present, but they are not a prevalent problem in the community," said Capt. Jeff Miles of the Westside Substation.
Mother's Day originated during the Civil War to remind women to take care of each others' wounded sons. This Mother's Day, thousands of women will be doing just that. Instead of having a leisurely brunch with their families, they will march in Oakland, Washington, D.C., and other cities across the country to protect each others' children from unnecessary gun violence.
Those interested in volunteering to help or joining the Oakland Million Mom March can go to www.mmmsfbayarea.org, or call 1.800.981.0321.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
