- Over a million people across the United
States marched for gun control last month,
and there was one speaker at the March in Washington
whose message was heard around the world.
Take a Look.
- My name is Naomi, and I'm 11 years old.
I am here today to acknowledge and represent
the African-American girls whose stories don't
make the front page of every national newspaper.
I represent the Africa-American who
are victims gun violence, who are simply
statistics instead of vibrant, beautiful girls
that are full of potential.
For far too long, these names, these black girls, and women
have been just numbers.
I'm here to say never again for those girls, too.
- From Alexandria, Virginia please welcome 11-year-old
Naomi Wadler.
[APPLAUSE]
Well, I think you're awesome.
- Thank you.
You're awesome.
- Well, thanks.
But you're really-- you're awesomer.
- Thank you.
[LAUGHS]
- So you're 11 years old.
And I mean, when you look at that,
when you look at what you did-- first
of all, what was it like when you were standing there?
- Well, OK, so I was really, really nervous.
And when I went on, the first thing I said was high.
And then everybody was like, hey.
And that's when I started to feel like more comfortable.
And I focused on only the first few rows.
- Good idea.
- So like I wasn't looking out onto the hundreds of thousands
of people that were watching me.
- Right, right.
- And how did you find out that you were going to speak there?
- So my mom called me into the kitchen.
She said, the organizer of the March for Our Lives
wants you to speak there.
And I was freaking out.
I was beside myself because I had wanted to go before.
And she said, no, because there was too many things going on.
And so, now I had to.
I mean, this was an opportunity.
And so, she gets off the phone with the woman.
And she's like, Naomi, do you know who George Clooney is?
I'm like, yes.
She's like, why.
And I'm like, well, you asked me.
She's like, he's going to call us in a few minutes.
And so I turned around, and I'm like, dad,
George Clooney is going to call us.
And he's like, it's not a big deal, honey.
I'm going to Home Depot right now.
[LAUGHS]
And so-- [LAUGHS] I mean, who can resist.
And so then, I hear the phone ring.
And she's like, shh.
This is Julie.
And I hear, hi, this is George Clooney.
And I'm like silently freaking out in my seat at the table.
And they talk about like planning
and a bunch of boring stuff for like 10 minutes.
And then, he hands the phone to me
and he told me that he saw my video based on me
from a media company called Now This.
And he said I spoke very eloquently,
and that he loved my message.
And then as soon as he hung, he's like see you Saturday.
I'm like, see you too.
And then, he hangs up, and I fall off my chair.
- Yeah, yeah, it's George Clooney.
I mean, he's super cool, isn't he?
- Yeah, he's pretty cool.
- That's amazing.
And so what does it feel like that you've
reached so many people?
I mean, people know who you are now.
- Yeah, it didn't sink in for a while.
So when I got home I went to a friend's house,
and when I came back I noticed that my mom's phone
was blowing up with like hundreds of e-mails
in her inbox.
Like, is that your daughter?
And there are celebrities tweeting me and Instagraming
me.
And then, we went to a restaurant.
And a woman working there was like, are you the Naomi.
I was like, yes.
And she's like, can I have your autograph.
I'm like sure.
And that's when I realized, I don't have a signature.
So I wrote-- they don't teach cursive anymore.
So I wrote what I do on every math test.
I was like Naomi Wadler.
And then, I was like, oh, this is big.
And I really realized that I had made
an impact when you guys called.
I was like, oh my gosh.
- Really?
That was it?
- Yes, nothing else mattered.
Ellen called me.
I'm good.
- Oh my god.
That's so sweet.
[APPLAUSE]
So fifth grade, and you helped organize a walkout, right?
- I did.
- What happened with that?
- So the night of the Parkland shooting, my mom's high school
friend, Jamie Guttenberg, was his daughter.
And she had been missing.
And so, I woke up the next morning
and I asked my mom if she was OK.
She had been shot in the back and she passed.
And so, I was thinking about what I could do to help.
And I noticed that a bunch of students were doing walkouts.
So I thought to myself, I want to do a walk out too.
So on the next day, I went to my friend Carter's class,
and I was like do you want to go to the principal
and discuss a walk out with him and gain his permission.
And he said, yeah.
And so then, we went and he was a little surprised.
But that's fine because nobody expects
a bunch of 10 and 11-year-olds to be political activists.
And so, we had meetings, and we ended up
having 60 plus kids on our front lawn that day.
- Wow, good for you.
Good for you.
[APPLAUSE]
- And our March was a little different because we added
an extra minute to honor Cortland Arrington,
a black 16-year-old in Alabama who was shot.
And we decided to do that because I feel way too
often black women are shot and their names aren't remembered.
And they're not valued as much.
And so, I thought this would be a good way
to get a message across.
[APPLAUSE]
- You're awesome.
You're amazing.
- Thank you.
- And I want you to come back.
I have a feeling you're going to do a lot more,
but you're doing a lot of good already.
So I'm so proud of you.
I'm so--
- Thank you.
- You're just awesome.
I admire you so very much.
- Thank you.
- Thank you for being here.
- Of course, thanks for having me.
- All right, Naomi--
- Hi I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos,
like videos of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,
like ballpeen hammer, and also some videos of Ellen
and other celebrities if you're into that sort of thing.
[SCREAM] [BEEP] God [BEEP]