George Clooney said Parkland student activists made him 'proud of my country again'
- Parkland students are guest editing The Guardian US to cover the March For Our Lives rallies happening on Saturday.
- The students requested actor George Clooney and wife Amal for an interview, but Clooney instead wrote a letter to the students.
- In the letter, Clooney said, "You make me proud of my country again."
In a letter to Parkland students, actor and activist George Clooney said the students make him "proud" of his country again.
Student journalists for The Eagle Eye - the student newspaper at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida (the site of a mass shooting on February 14) - have taken over coverage for The Guardian US of the March For Our Lives rallies for gun control happening on Saturday.
The students requested interviews from notable people like Bernie Sanders and Marco Rubio, who both said "yes." They also hoped to interview Clooney and his wife Amal, who donated $500,000 in support of the march.
Rather than being interviewed, though, Clooney wrote a letter to students Emma Dowd, Lauren Newman, and Rebecca Schneid (co-editors-in-chief of The Eagle Eye) praising them for their work "to make the country a safer place."
Many celebrities have voiced their support for the Parkland students, some of whom have become vocal gun-reform activists in the wake of the deadly shooting at their school last month. Actor Bill Murray recently wrote an op-ed for NBC News Think that compared the students to those that protested the Vietnam War.
Clooney's full letter is below:
Dear Emma, Lauren and Rebecca,
Thank you for your note and congratulations on the incredible work you and all of your fellow students are doing to make the country a safer place.
It's terrific that you're editing the Guardian. It's a stellar newspaper and they must feel honored to be working with you.
Amal and I are 100% behind you and will be marching in DC on the 24th, but we both feel very strongly that this is your march. Your moment. Young people are taking it to the adults and that has been your most effective tool. The fact that no adults will speak on the stage in DC is a powerful message to the world that if we can't do something about gun violence then you will. The issue is going to be this, anyone you ask would feel proud to be interviewed by you but it's so much more effective if it's young people.
You could talk to a dozen kids like the young kids from Chicago and LA that Emma met with. You could take over the Guardian and make it tell the stories of children by children. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity to point to this moment and say it belongs to you. You certainly should do what you want but that would be my hope for you.
Amal and I stand behind you, in support of you, in gratitude to you.
You make me proud of my country again.
Thank you.
All the best,
George