Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Cyndy Thomas is organizing the Oakland version of the Million Mom March scheduled for Washington, D.C., on Mothers Day.
Silicon Valley moms heading for Oakland
By Leigh Ann Maze
As mothers like 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 with the Granada Hills Day Camp shooting in California in mind.
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 was 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 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 to 3 p.m. Nine free buses with a capacity of 47 people each will be leaving from several stops in the Silicon Valley to take local marchers to Oakland.
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 bright pink 15-foot 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.
The marchers hope that their voices will be heard by Congress, despite the powerful gun lobby. The marchers want Congress to enact into law requirements for extensive background checks for all gun owners. They also want the government to treat guns like cars, and require a license, registration and proper training to own one. The mothers are also asking that all handguns have safety locks, that purchases be limited to one handgun per month and that there be zero-tolerance enforcement of gun laws.
The marchers carry heavy statistics with them on their campaign trail. In 1997, 12 young people, 19 years or younger, 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 affluent Silicon Valley suburbs, that does not mean that the community is free of guns. "We all know that guns are present, but they are not a prevalent problem in the community," said sheriff's Capt. Jeff Miles of the Westside Substation.
Those interested in volunteering to help or joining the Oakland Million Mom March can go to www.mmmsfbayarea.org, or call Cyndy Thomas at 408.867.9555 for more information.
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
