I was just stopped at the red light next to Providence High School here in Burbank, and there was a large group of kids out protesting for #NationalWalkoutDay, holding signs and chanting, and my reaction surprised me.
The driver next to me & I both tooted our horns in support, and as we smiled at each other I registered what it was they were chanting: “Less Guns. More Kids.”
I reflexively choked up. I was sitting there feeling encouraged by these kids’ enthusiasm and activism, & that chant hit me with the bottom line reason those kids, and kids all over the US, are out there today; they’re scared. Our kids are scared for their lives. My kids. Yours.
They’re not out there being political, they’re out there because they’re afraid of getting shot to death. In their schools and elsewhere.
It didn’t used to be like this. Kids weren’t so scared when there weren’t so many guns. It’s that simple.
They deserve better from us.
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As a white, when I hear a statement about whites, before I choose to call it “racism,” I ask myself the following:
Does the statement represent a real history of, or (non-laughable) future potential for:
1. the murder of me or my family 2. the threat of bodily harm
Cont’d
3. another human beings’ legal ownership of me or my family 4. decreased employment opportunity 5. an economic system rigged against me 6. an inferior education for my kids 7. being widely perceived as having a propensity for criminality
Cont’d
8. experiencing housing discrimination 9. the perception of me as an “disloyal other,” which results in a mass incarceration of whites 10. denial of admittance to business and social groups 11. a demonstrably higher likelihood of police violence against whites
This country has always been a struggle between two sides: the loftiness of our ideals of freedom and equality, and the ugliness of racism that has been exploited for profit, control, and the maintenance of a status quo. Pick the side you’re on.
For instance, how can one believe in “all men are created equal” and also support an LE culture that allows black ppl to be 250% more likely to be killed by police than whites?
How, if you believe in inalienable right to pursue happiness, can you be okay with border agents separating children from their parents when they come here seeking asylum?
Some people will still try to dismiss any attempt at gun control using the statistic that most gun deaths are suicides, which is true. But what's not true is the implication that there's nothing that gun control can do to prevent people from killing themselves.
1/7
The reason that there are so many gun suicides is because guns are so effective at killing, and they're so widely available. A suicide attempted with a gun is almost always a successful suicide. 2/7
Contrary to popular belief, suicide is usually an impulsive act. If a suicide attempt is unsuccessful, it's very likely the person surviving the attempt will not die by suicide. In other words, a botched suicide attempt is usually a life saved. 3/ 7 hsph.harvard.edu/magazine/magaz…
Oh really? Well “go fuck yourself” is a directive.
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Quote-responding to this tweet may seem like shooting fish in a barrel, & yet it is 30 mins later & I have pulled over after school drop-off to respond further because I am angry.
I have been followed by an ever-present amorphous sadness for almost my entire life. I am 51 yrs old. It varies in strength from a casual unresolvable suspicion that I will never find the joy that others do in a sunset, to the feeling that being dead might a respite & a kindness