Aalayah Eastmond | |
|---|---|
 Eastmond in 2018 | |
| Born | (2001-03-22)March 22, 2001 (age 24) Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Trinity Washington University |
| Occupation | Activist |
Aalayah Eastmond (born March 22, 2001) is an American activist and advocate forgun violence prevention,social justice, andracial equality. After surviving theStoneman Douglas High School shooting, Eastmond began her activism during the2018 United States gun violence protests. She has testified multiple times to theU.S. Congress. Eastmond is an executive council member of Team Enough, ayouth-led gun violence prevention organization which is part of theBrady Campaign.
Eastmond also co-founded Concerned Citizens of DC, in the wake of themurder of George Floyd, to organize protests supportingsocial justice issues inWashington, D.C. She supportsBlack Lives Matter and protests againstpolice brutality.
Eastmond was born inBrooklyn on March 22, 2001, to Stacey-Ann Llewellyn.[1][2] When Eastmond was 2 years old, her 18-year-old uncle, Patrick Edwards, was shot and killed leaving his mother's home in Brooklyn.[3] At the age of 4, Eastmond moved with her mother toWest Virginia. She played the violin as a child.[2]
Whe she was 8 years old, the two moved toBroward County, Florida.[4]
Eastmond attendedMarjory Stoneman Douglas High School. On February 14, 2018, during her junior year, she survived theStoneman Douglas High School shooting by hiding underneath the body of Nicholas Dworet, a deceased classmate.[3] In the summer following her high school graduation, she lived with her aunt inBrownsville, Brooklyn while interning for GovernorAndrew Cuomo.[3]
Eastmond studiescriminal justice atTrinity Washington University in the capital.[5]
Eastmond became prominent during the2018 United States gun violence protests as a student survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, helping lead several high-profile protests, marches, and boycotts.[2][4][3] She is an activist and advocate forgun violence prevention,social justice, andracial equality.[5] Eastmond and others from her high school faced criticism for speaking out after the shooting.[6] She attendedMarch for Our Lives events.[7] In July 2018, Eastmond spoke at a gun violence awareness march organized by Save Our Streets Brooklyn.[8] Eastmond testified during theBrett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.[9]
Eastmond is an executive council member of Team Enough, ayouth-led gun violence prevention organization which is part of theBrady Campaign.[2][4] In this role, she provides insights on the impact of gun violence inblack andbrown communities.[2] Eastmond testified to theUnited States House andSenate Committee on the Judiciary in support of the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.[4]
Eastmond is a supporter ofBlack Lives Matter and protests againstpolice brutality.[10][11][12] After themurder of George Floyd, she co-founded Concerned Citizens of DC. The group organizes protests supportingsocial justice issues inWashington, D.C.[2][13] At the 2020 March on Washington for racial equity, Eastmond spoke about the connections betweenracial justice and gun violence.[4]
Eastmond suffered frompost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the Parkland shooting. In 2021, after the chaos of the January 6 insurrection, she found herself reacting to the numerousU.S. National Guard troops armed withM-4 rifles (the miltary counterpart to the Parkland attacker's weapon), assigned to the city as part of heightenedsecurity preparations for the inauguration of Joe Biden as President.[14]
