Alexander Blake Wind (born January 30, 2001) is an American student activist against

gun violence Gun-related violence is violence committed with the use of a firearm. Gun-related violence may or may not be considered criminal. Criminal violence includes homicide (except when and where ruled justifiable), assault with a deadly weapon, a ...

. A survivor of the

Stoneman Douglas High School shooting On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...

and a founding member of the

Never Again MSD Never Again MSD is an American student-led political action committee for gun control that advocates for tighter regulations to prevent gun violence. The organization, also known by the Twitter hashtags #NeverAgain, and #EnoughIsEnough, was fo ...

movement, he is a critic of politicians who are supported by the

National Rifle Association The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

. Wind was one of five Stoneman Douglas students featured on the cover of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine in 2018. Wind was included in ''Time'' magazine's ''100 Most Influential People of 2018.'' In a speech televised internationally at the

March for Our Lives March for Our Lives (MFOL) was a student-led demonstration in support of gun control legislation. It took place in Washington, D.C., on March 24, 2018, with over 880 sibling events throughout the United States and around the world, and w ...

protest in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

on March 24, 2018, Wind criticized people who think that "teenagers can't do anything", and he cited examples of young people from history including

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

. He criticized the idea of

arming teachers Arming teachers is equipping teachers in preschool through secondary school with firearms. Such proposals have engendered public debate regarding with whom the responsibility for providing a safe environment lies, and whether it would reduce o ...

as a defense against violence, saying that if "teachers start packing heat, are they going to arm our pastors, ministers, and rabbis?" He insisted that young people must vote in the upcoming

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

. Wind urged people to contact their congresspersons and ask them to declare their stance on

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms by civilians. Most countries have a restrictive firearm guiding policy, with on ...

and not accept campaign contributions from the NRA, and to petition lawmakers to take steps to end gun violence. Wind was a member of the drama club of

Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a public high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman ...

, and he was one of the first students to speak out online after the shooting. He promoted the ''March for Our Lives'' student protest in numerous media interviews. He sang the national anthem before a basketball game featuring the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern Conference Southeast Division (NBA), Southe ...

. At the March for Our Lives nationwide protest in Washington, he said:

References

External links

CNN video
of Wind's speech {{DEFAULTSORT:Wind, Alex Living people 2001 births American child activists American founders American gun control activists American shooting survivors Place of birth missing (living people) People from Parkland, Florida Stoneman Douglas High School shooting activists Gun politics in the United States