First grader is only student at her school to walk out over gun violence

Despite no other students joining her, a first grader at an elementary school in Alexandria, Va., on Friday joined a nationwide walkout to protest gun violence.

Bethany Edwards told CNN that she checked her daughter, 7-year-old Havana Chapman-Edwards, out of class in order to participate after the school didn’t make any plans for the walkout. Chapman-Edwards attends Fort Hunt Elementary School. 

I am all alone at my school, but I know I am not alone. #nationalschoolwalkout #columbine pic.twitter.com/1zozqfKIYw

— Havana (@TheTinyDiplomat) April 20, 2018

Edwards said that her daughter was upset when she saw that no one else had walked out, but that they decided to watch media coverage of the other walkouts.

{mosads}

“She said, ‘I am going to tell my friends I did this, and then next time there will be more of us. That means we are winning.’ I knew then that she understood what it means to be a leader, even in the most simple terms,” Edwards said.

Chapman-Edwards wore an orange spacesuit as part of the demonstration. Students participating in the walkout were asked to wear orange to protest gun violence.

“She wanted to represent for African and African-American girls who are victims of gun violence, as well as her cousin, Tony, who was a victim of gun violence,” Edwards told CNN.

“By wearing her astronaut suit, she wants to show the world that black girls are beautiful and strong and have just as much of a right to be leaders as anyone else. She wants to be a warrior for girls all over the world who don’t have a voice,” she added.

Students walked out of classes across the U.S. on Friday to protest gun violence, the second major walkout since the mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school in February.

Friday’s walkout took place on the 19th anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School.