Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images(CHICAGO) — Gabby Giffords is set to join the Stoneman Douglas survivors at a rally and march in Chicago on Friday — the first event in the young activists’ new push to take their voter turnout initiative on the road.
Friday night’s event kicks off the teenagers’ tour called “March for Our Lives: Road to Change,” which aims to encourage young people to register and vote in the upcoming midterm elections.
The students behind the “March for Our Lives” movement plan to make 75 stops across the country.
Besides Giffords — a gun violence survivor and former congresswoman — other high-profile activists set to join the teenagers in Chicago include Jennifer Hudson and Chance the Rapper.
In the wake of the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Stoneman Douglas that killed 17 students and staff, students such as Cameron Kasky, Emma Gonzalez and David Hogg organized a youth-led movement to push for gun reform that spread nationwide. The largest event so far was the March for Our Lives rally, which took place March 24 in Washington, D.C., and cities throughout the nation.
“Over the summer, we’re going to key congressional districts. … We’re basically trying to promote the largest youth voter turnout ever in the history of the United States, and making sure the kids that are affected by this most are able to vote on these issues,” Hogg told ABC News’ Nightline earlier this month.
Hogg, who is taking a gap year before college, plans to spend his entire summer traveling to boost voter turnout among young people and focus on issues he believes all Americans can identify with.
“The best way to prevent so many bad things is well-educated voting,” he added. “We have to make sure that the people that are in power that refuse to take action on this are no longer in power.”
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