Song of the day:
It’s July 5th, and here we are again…
Akron, Ohio - June 27 - An unarmed Black man suffered AT LEAST 60 wounds in fatal police shooting. SIXTY. Look, when this young man fled after being stopped the police could have shot his leg to make him stop running; they could have tased him; but no. They chose to continue firing until his body was destroyed. Yes, he was guilty of shooting out his window, of leading police on a high-speed chase, but guilty enough to lose his life? No. Why is this okay?
Highland Park, Illinois - July 4 - Six people dead, more than 30 injured, while celebrating this country’s “independence”. An armed white man was arrested. No one tried to shoot him despite the fact that he’d KILLED six people and injured many others. No one put him in a chokehold or knelt on his neck. No, he was taken into custody and that was that. I’m glad they arrested him, obviously, but the stark contrast to how the Black suspect was treated for a far less violent crime is gross, but not surprising. This is America, and for many people a Black man’s life isn’t as valuable as the life of a white man.
Sacramento, California - July 4 - One person dead, four others injured outside a nightclub. No one’s been arrested.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - July 4 - Two police officers shot. Thankfully their injuries were not serious but still. "We don't know if this was ricochet from celebratory gunfire, we don't know if this was intentional.” Celebratory gunfire shouldn’t even be a thing. But I know it is. I remember visiting my grandparents in tiny town Texas and they had neighbors who shot off guns for various “occasions.” It was jarring even then. The mayor of Philadelphia said: "But we live in America, and we have the Second Amendment, and we have the Supreme Court of the United States telling everybody they can carry a gun wherever they want. This is what we have to live with. If I had the ability to take care of guns, I would. But the legislature won't let us, the US Congress won't let us. This is a gun country." And he’s not wrong.
I don’t even know what to say anymore, but I’m pretty certain this is not the kind of America the forefathers were envisioning when they wrote that second amendment all those years ago.
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (US Constitution)
Like someone said on Twitter last night, this militia isn’t very well regulated. That person wasn’t wrong. And the regulations about guns are decreasing every day across the country. It’s terrifying. And on a night like July 4 you spend half the night wondering if that noise you just heard was fireworks or gunfire.
Per the Gun Violence Archive, “Mass Shootings are, for the most part an American phenomenon. While they are generally grouped together as one type of incident they are several with the foundation definition being that they have a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”
Below is a summary of the mass shootings in this country in the month of July, and we’re only on day five. Think how many more shootings there were this weekend where less than four people were shot. I would guess the number is quite high.
So what do we do?
We vote people into office who will enact sensible gun laws. We keep voting. At all levels. We speak up. We condemn these acts. We hold our elected officials accountable. We pray for justice and we pray for peace. But alongside these prayers there must be action. Sitting around doing nothing doesn’t cut it. Action is required.
Support an organization already in the fight…these are just a few…there are many more if you search long enough.
Video of the day:
And just so this post isn’t a total downer, please enjoy this timeline cleanser…I can’t wait to see this movie…my friend Kirsten said it’s the most wholesome movie she’s ever seen. I think most of us need that kind of movie more than anything else right now. But I’m still pretty excited for Thor: Love and Thunder on Thursday…