Why do we fight?
Because the time for standing by has long passed. It is up to us to protect our students.
It is time for more than thoughts and prayers. It is time for action.
"I prayed for freedom twenty years but received no answer until I prayed with my legs."
-Frederick Douglass
Because Noah Pozner isn't reading books or going on adventures.
Noah was only six when he was murdered in his classroom at Sandy Hook Elementary.
It has been five years since a boy walked into an elementary school with a gun, five years since twenty children were slaughtered alongside their teachers and principal.
We remember:
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Dawn Hochsprung, 47
Dylan Hockley, 6
Madeleine Hsu, 6
Catherine Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
Ana Márquez-Greene, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Rousseau, 30
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Leigh Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison Wyatt, 6
Because Isaiah Shoels never became a comedian.
Isaiah, a senior at Columbine, dreamt of pursuing a career in comedy. He was 18 when two boys called him a "nigger" and then murdered him in the school library.
April 1999 felt like a turning point: a moment of terror that might awaken a nation from its stupor. For the students, teachers, and their families, the world changed that day.
For the gun industry and the politicians in its pocket, it was business as usual.
We remember:
Cassie Bernall, 17
Steve Curnow, 14
Corey DePooter, 17
Kelly Fleming, 16
Matt Kechter, 16
Daniel Mauser, 15
Dave Sanders, 47
Daniel Rohrbough, 15
Rachel Scott, 17
Isaiah Shoels, 18
John Tomlin, 16
Lauren Townsend, 18
Kyle Velasquez, 16
We fight because it is up to us. We fight because the blood of our students and colleagues calls out to us.
Meaningful gun control saves lives.
It was rude to discuss gun control after Orlando. It was crass to discuss gun control after Sandy Hook. It was opportunistic to discuss gun control after Aurora. It was disrespectful to discuss gun control after Charleston. It was hasty to discuss gun control after Columbine.
It is too easy to postpone meaningful reform indefinitely by hiding beneath hollow platitudes, unheard prayers, and shallow thoughts. It is too easy to limit discourse but not gun access by labeling those who seek to prevent another mass shooting, another hate crime, another act of terror as “impolite and disrespectful” or as “political opportunists.”
Respect for the dead is not apathy in the face of wanton murder.
Respect for the dead is not pushing children into closets and under desks and closing the blinds and turning off the lights and practicing how to hide from death.
Respect for the dead is meaningful gun control—now!
ENOUGH
Advocacy
"He who desires, but acts not, breeds pestilence."
Merely wishing things would change is not enough. The time to act is now.
We meet regularly and organize town halls with congresspeople so that our voices can be heard. Because one more life lost is unacceptable.
Together we can bring about change.
IS
Support
We decide: what help will we provide for children who suffer from mental illness?
Should we help them buy guns?
Or should we help them realize that they are not alone, that there are people who can and will help them become healthier?
We advocate for increased funding for school and community support systems.
ENOUGH
Care
It is a disservice to believe that casualties are the only victims of shootings.
Many survivors do not emerge from a shooting whole. Our coalition hopes to provide resources for the support and care of students who have been traumatized by violence.
Increased funding for school counseling departments and mobile volunteers are essential to keep the memory of our loved ones alive and to help our communities recover.