RIP to all the victims of the last few days, including tonight.
Love, peace, and healing to their families and loved ones, whose pain we do not know.
The one thing that will NOT stop more gun violence is more gun violence.
It must end.
We have a duty to all the victims to not let them be forgotten. If we care, we MUST express that caring by fighting to change the country, our society, and our culture. It will not be easy.
If our country is to ever be a community, we must stand with our brothers and sisters who are the victims of precarious conditions, of lack of opportunity, of systemic racism, of gun violence. We must stop accepting things as they are. Whatever we have done, it is not enough. Nothing is changing.
And part of that common struggle must be to reduce the epidemic of guns in our communities.
Period.
If we give up, there will be many more weeks like this. We must not give up!
Finally, we owe one more thing to the fallen. We owe them our deepest effort to do all we can to avert future violence. Words matter. Thoughts matter. How we express ourselves matters.
Before you speak and before you write, ask yourself, will this promote peace? Will this heal? Will this add to a sad and burgeoning cycle of slaughter or will it instead contribute to a fierce struggle for justice?
Please don’t let us lose that struggle. Please do all you can to help.