In a little over six minutes, 17 of our friends were taken from us. Fifteen were injured. And everyone - absolutely everyone - in the Douglas Community was forever altered.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the profound impact of a tragic event on a community and its individuals.
Emma Gonzalez's quote conveys the devastating effects of gun violence on a community, highlighting how a single moment can irrevocably alter the lives of many. Through expressing the loss of friends and the trauma experienced by survivors, she emphasizes that such tragedies create lasting scars that affect not only the victims but the entire community.
In practice
During a speech at a memorial service, I reflected on how our community will heal and change after this horrible event.
What matters is that the majority of American people have become complacent in a senseless injustice that occurs all around them. What matters is that most American politicians have become more easily swayed by money than by the people who voted them into office.
Mental illness and gun violence are not directly correlated, but when the two go hand in hand, Americans - often children - lose their lives.
If I'm able to communicate one thing to adults, it would be this: it should not be easier to purchase a gun than it is to obtain a driver's license, and military-grade weapons should not be accessible in civilian settings.
Get out and vote. If you can't vote, then register other people to vote. Get people to the polls; make sure that people who need to vote can vote.
You might not be a big fan of politics, but you can still participate. All you need to do is vote for people you believe will work on these issues, and if they don't work the way they should, then it is your responsibility to call them, organize a town hall, and demand that they show up - hold them accountable.
If you want to help arm the schools, arm them with school supplies, books, therapists - things they actually need and can make use of.
You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.
The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are.
At long last, the battle has ended! And thus, Ghana, your beloved country is free forever!
The discrimination of women and girls goes to the core of any and all analyses of the world's economic, political, and environmental problems.
What we want is that one day every workplace will be diverse - we already encourage that with gender and ethnicity, but the next frontier is neurodiversity and it will become ordinary. People won't think twice about it.
I grew up under the politics of my size and my skin. I grew up under the politics of the sound of my voice and a lack of agency, or a feeling of a lack of agency, and not always being able to find myself in images that were in the media.
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