Scholar Speaks at D.C. March, Joins Parkland Calls for Peace
Chicago Scholar D’Angelo McDade, who begins his college journey at DePauw University this fall, was a featured speaker at the national “March for Our Lives” in Washington, D.C., on March 24. The student-led demonstration advocated for tighter gun control policies in the wake of Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting.
Warm and wise beyond his 18 years, D’Angelo has been working to reduce violence as a leader of North Lawndale College Prep’s Peace Warriors program.
“Peace Warriors are ambassadors of peace,” D’Angelo says. “We interrupt nonsense, and interject love and kindness.” He notes that the group’s members are certified in Kingian principles of nonviolence, following the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.
Former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who leads a Chicago-based anti-violence initiative, reached out to the Peace Warriors following the Parkland shooting. Familiar with the Lawndale students’ work, Duncan suggested they go to Florida to provide support.
“The communities I live in experience gun violence and nothing is said or done.”
D’Angelo was one of six students to respond to the call, and the Chicago group travelled to Florida in early March. There, he met Emma Gonzalez and other student leaders. They found common ground in a desire to address gun violence in their schools and communities. Parkland students reciprocated with a visit to Chicago to continue the conversation.
When the D.C. march’s plans took shape, Emma invited D’Angelo and his classmate Alex King to speak at the rally. She insisted that their voices be heard on the national platform.
“As I stood there on the stage, I saw the change I wanted to see, that we need to see,” D’Angelo says of speaking in front of the D.C. crowd, which numbered in the hundreds of thousands. He said representing Chicago felt important, emphasizing the need for inclusivity in the movement for students of color and other parts of the country. “The communities I live in experience gun violence,” he points out, “and nothing is said or done.”
For D’Angelo, the issue is indeed personal. Last summer he was sitting with family on the front porch of their home in West Humboldt Park when a young man began shooting. Bullets hit D’Angelo and his grandfather, thankfully without life-threatening injury. Just three weeks later, D’Angelo made it to Posse’s first-round interview.
Peace Warriors has been training the Chicago school community to use restorative justice practices to address violence in their school since 2009, documenting a 70 percent reduction in violence in the first year of the program alone. D’Angelo previously served as a Peace Warriors data manager to track fights and suspensions. This year, as a high school senior, he was the assistant director of civic engagement.
At DePauw, D’Angelo plans to study business administration and educational studies. He wants to get involved in the campus’s civic engagement and community service center, which houses the Compton Center for Peace and Justice. In all of his endeavors, he knows his Posse will be by his side.
“We’re attending DePauw as a family and team,” D’Angelo says.
Watch: D’Angelo McDade and Alex King at March for Our Lives
Posse Scholar D'Angelo McDade and his Chicago high school classmate Alex King were featured speakers at the March for Our Lives rally on March 24, 2018.
