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It is impossible to adequately convey the feelings of grief, sorrow and compassion we feel for you the residents of Parkland. No amount of talk can bring back the lives of loved ones — children, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, friends and all who care about the sanctity of life.
The grief and pain you feel are burned into your conscious being. To offer platitudes no matter how heartfelt won’t help ease the pain.
To quote statistics that you are not alone seems irrelevant. But there is a reason. The barbaric acts of troubled and evil individuals are evident in the very fiber of the American way of life. The Valentine’s Day shooting was the 18th school shooting since January 1st of this year.
2017 saw the greatest number of “mass shootings” in America’s history. America has more mass shootings than any other country in the world.
Right now, in the rawness of the moment, these statistics offer no solace, hope or seeming relevance to the tragic events at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. But perhaps they do.
America is at a tipping point. Political dissension has perhaps never been greater in modern history. There are those who say individuals immediately revisiting gun laws after a shooting are simply politicizing an event for their own agenda. How misguided they are. When travesties like the Parkland shooting occur, we must seize the moment.
To whom might we turn for inspiration? How about Parkland High School’s namesake?
Five feet two inches tall, 100 pounds, savior of the Everglades, Presidential Medal of Honor recipient, National Women’s Hall of Famer, National Wildlife Hall of Famer, journalist, writer and suffragette, Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ drive and determination prevailed for 108 years. She never gave up on the causes in which she believed.
The author of the 1947 seminal book The Everglades: River of Grass she led the good fight to protect the Everglades, the environment and so much more. This amazing woman refused to take no for an answer! Perhaps we can all take a leaf from a page in her life and say “No More!” “Enough is enough.” How many more children must perish in school violence? How many more citizens must be gunned down in movie theatres, concerts, vacation resorts, houses of worship and so many other venues and gatherings?
Will it take a senseless tragedy to one of your loved ones before you either act on what you currently believe in, or change your views on “sane gun laws” that will serve to protect the citizens of our great country – including your family members?
No one is looking to deprive you of your firearms — simply to find a rational way to ensure that those that shouldn’t have guns can’t get them. Surely, we can and must find common ground.
The time to act is now. As a nation, we must rise up. Whether it’s marches on Washington, city capitals or congressional headquarters, days of protest, running for political offices and voting out leaders who are willing to pass laws that keep America the nation with the most violent mass shootings we must start immediately.
Let’s really try to de-politicize this. There must be a common ground where progressives, moderates, and conservatives can meet, engage and come up with solutions.
We are the mightiest and greatest nation in the free world. But that doesn’t mean we are perfect. Far from it. And there is no shame in saying that as great as we are, we’ve got major challenges.
What separates winners from losers is the celebration of all that is noble and the willingness to recognize, acknowledge and work to change the systemic challenges we face.
Now is a time for all to join together. Put aside petty differences and chart a path forward so that five years from now we can all look back and say, “America has the least school violence in the free world!”
To all who have lost loved ones, as time passes and overwhelming grief transforms to sadness and sorrow, become tireless fighters to help prevent others from experiencing the same agony that befell you. Making a difference will help set you free!
To the rest of America, my question to you is simply “what’s holding you back from taking action?”
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Photo credit: Getty Images
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Join us by phone to talk Money, Guns & Politics. Thursday February 15th 2018 at 9 pm EST / 6 pm PST.
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