As part of its usual community outreach, this year Pitchfork Music Festival is encouraging its fans to wear orange to join in the fight against gun violence for their initiative called #BeatsOverBullets. The festival is partnering with local group Mothers Against Senseless Killings (MASK) and Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun violence prevention organization in the country.
The reason they picked this not-so-popular yet on-trend hue is to connect with the Wear Orange movement, started after the death of Hadiya Pendleton—a 15-year-old who was shot and killed here in Chicago just days after performing at President Obama’s second inaugural. After her passing, her friends and family, in an effort to bring more awareness to gun violence, began to wear orange, since that's the color hunters wear to stand out in the woods and avoid getting shot by other hunters.
Now every year on June 2—Hadiya's birthday, named National Gun Violence Awareness Day in her honor—Everytown organizes events all over the country at which participants wear orange to show support of the cause. This year Everytown was joined by more than 200,000 individuals along with elected officials, "influencers," and partner organizations participating in National Gun Violence Awareness Day. And this year Pitchfork asks its attendees to do the same.
Stylish festivalgoers wearing the color orange will be asked to be photographed for the Reader's Street View column. They will also have the opportunity to pose with signs bearing the facts of gun violence, local and national. Get inspired by the Pinterest board below put together for the festival—and get ready to be seen and raise awareness for this important cause.
Originally posted in the Chicago Reader.
*I'll be in the Everytown/MASK booth from 4-5 every day of the festival, stop by if you'd like to be photographed for the project! And even if you're not wearing orange, come see the great work these organizations are doing.
