Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, 2.14.18

At least 17 people were shot to death in a high school on Wednesday. We lost 17 people, many of whom were children. In conversations about death, the phrase “we lost” is often used with a passive voice. It’s rare that the person saying it honestly feels responsible for losing the soul that has passed on. In most cases, it’s a recognition that a soul we once cherished is now gone.

Today, I want you to read “We lost” and own the loss. I want you to know that we, as a nation, actively lost 17 souls in a high school on Valentine’s Day. 
 
In the next few days, we will assign responsibility for this tragedy to:

* Republicans
* Democrats
* the NRA
* Politicians paid by the NRA
* Voters who vote for politicians funded by the NRA
* Poor school security
* Poor mental health support 
* Poor gun control laws
* Congress
* The shooter’s parents
* Prayers
* Those who don’t pray
* Those who support gun reform laws
* Those who don’t support gun reform laws
* Guns
* People…” because guns don’t kill people, people do.”

There will be arguing, praying, revelations about the shooter and his parents, insults traded between political parties and politicians, hashtags, emotional social media statuses, documentaries, blogs, podcasts..all the galore. While we manage these debates, we will perform a task that we have accomplished so well since April 20, 1999. We will do the work of slowly disowning a culture that permits kids to carry assault rifles into schools. We will identify the screams of terror as coming from “those” poor kids.

“Those” poor kids..are yours. “Those” poor kids belong to us. In the midst of all the debating, we will pass around enough fault until there is none left to provide for ourselves.

After American school shootings, we display a habitual tendency to cast off our basic responsibility to protect children. Yes, Congress is responsible for creating safe gun policies. Yes, the NRA is financially backing a significant amount of our representatives. Stating this is not enough. It has not been enough for the past two decades. What are WE going to do about this? It’s time to ask what WE have done or failed to do to allow this kind of reality to exist? If your representative is not actively making sure your child can safely attend school without dying, what are YOU going to do about that? If your home, community or school does not promote an atmosphere of positive mental health, particularly for our kids…what are YOU doing about that? If your home or school is not fostering thorough conversations about bullying and its impact on others, what are WE doing about that?

When we collectively, divvy out responsibility for school shootings to all the popular blamed groups and individuals without also assuming responsibility, we put ourselves in a position to solely rely on those groups to perform the change necessary for this society to evolve into one in which school shootings do not occur. The problem with this tendency is that IT HAS NOT WORKED. The popular blamed groups do not change on their own. We yell at everyone, then wait patiently for everyone else to make changes on our behalf. IT HASN’T WORKED.

How extreme are we willing to go to protect our kids? Because right now..it looks like we’re eager to go as far as arguing on Facebook. It seems like we’re willing to type a few paragraphs on someone’s status to share our frustration. It looks like we’re ready to share videos of kids lying in their own pool of blood while their friends scream in terror. It looks like we’re willing to pray or criticize others for praying. None of this is enough. The responsibility of ensuring our kids can attend school without becoming a victim of gun violence belongs to all of us.

Today, we lost 17 souls, many of whom were our children. Tomorrow, we could lose more if we don’t start pausing to realize our power to transform this nation into one in which this shit does not happen.