004 September 2024

NOTE: This newsletter was written before September and, unfortunately, this topic is as poignant as ever. I am once again appalled and deeply saddened by the actions taken and lives lost in American schools earlier this September. I am disgusted by this county’s carelessness and in-action to make any changes to save student’s lives. Thank you for reading. Please consider donating to organizations dedicated to preventing gun violence.

In 1996, 35 people were killed, and another 23 were wounded in a mass shooting in a popular tourist town in Australia (Port Arthur Massacre). In the same year, 18 people were killed in a mass shooting at a primary school in the UK (Dunblane School Massacre). In 2011, 69 people were killed at a summer camp in Norway (Utøya massacre/2011 Norway attacks). In 2019, 51 people were killed and another 50 were wounded in a mass shooting at mosques in New Zealand (Christchurch Mosque Shootings). These murders, these tragedies, led to drastic changes in each counties’ gun policies, including bans on assault weapons and gun buy-back programs. Since making these changes, each country has seen markedly lower rates of gun deaths and, in some cases, no mass shootings at all.

After a mass shooting, defined as any incident in which four or more people are shot and wounded or killed, excluding the shooter (Everytown Research), these countries took steps to stop situations like these from recurring. They made hard choices and spent millions to keep their citizens from living in fear of the next massacre. Through these actions, these governments have made it clear that they want to keep their citizens safe.

Every year in America thousands of citizens are killed or wounded in mass shootings. Since 2015, over 19,000 people have been shot and wounded or killed in an American mass shooting. Both the number of mass shooting incidents and the number of people shot in them have increased since 2015, reaching a high of 686 mass shooting incidents in 2021. In 2022 alone, over 600 people were killed, with over 2,700 wounded (Everytown Research). And still our leaders at the federal level and most state governments have not taken action to make changes. Thoughts and prayers are not enough.

Artist Lex Marie on School Shootings

Lex Marie is a multidisciplinary artist in Washington D.C who, put simply, makes work about children and things that children go through. She creates paintings, sculptures and installations that reflect her individual experiences yet encompasses the experiences of many in the African diaspora. Marie’s artistic practice is an exploration of the weighty realities experienced by many African American children and children of color. The following works are Marie’s response to school shootings.

When her son was in kindergarten, he told her about an active shooter drill that they practiced in school. The young students hid in the bathroom and their teachers would come in and scare them. The children had to remain quiet. Initially Marie didn't have a response to her son’s school day, but after some time she used her reactionary thoughts and heavy emotions to that story to create art. Through a fusion of everyday materials, often reclaimed and repurposed, Marie offers a tangible manifestation of the intangible struggles faced by these young minds, compelling viewers to confront the profound significance inherent in the seemingly ordinary.

Find more of Marie’s work on https://www.lexmarie.com/

If you've read this far, I don’t feel the need to explain why people dying because of a country’s/state’s reckless in-action to do anything about the weapons used most in these deaths is a bad thing. While mass shootings persit, confusingly, efforts to ban books spike across the US. From 2022 to 2023, the number of books targeted by critics surged 65% (Alfonseca).

Only nine states (listed here) prohibit the purchase and possession of assault weapons (high-powered semi-automatic firearms including AR-15 and AK-47 rifles). From 2009 to 2022, nine out of the 10 mass shooting incidents with the most casualties involved the use of at least one assault weapon. Most high-profile mass shootings involve assault weapons. (Everytown Research)

A large percentage of the books targeted in certain states bans are by or about the LGBTQ community and/or people of color. A book ban is a form of censorship where these books would be removed from libraries, school reading lists, or bookstore shelves solely because of the books content, ideas, or themes (Webb). This specific newsletter is not meant to debate what children in schools are being taught, but the purpose of this month’s newsletter is to emphasize that more children should be ALIVE today, going to school, reading books (whatever the contents of may be), with thoughts of graduation and success (not their own or their classmates’ funerals) on their minds.

How2Help

This fight may seem hopeless, but we must continue to fight and speak for the victims who no longer can.

Use Your Voice. You can help pass legislation that supports school safety and violence prevention measures. Visit SandyHookPromise.org for more information on how legislation can save lives and prevent gun violence. When lawmakers hear directly from their constituents, it matters. It’s up to us to speak out to protect all of our children.
Donate. There are many organizations to help families of gun violence victims and gun-safety activists, including Everytown for Gun Safety. Supporting EveryTown helps fuel their efforts to advance gun safety in the courts and through the civil and criminal justice systems with the largest team of litigators in the country. They also provide grants and training for community-based violence intervention programs aimed at reducing gun violence in cities. $25 million dedicated over 5 years to expand Everytown Fund for Safer Cities to 100 local groups. Additionally your donation would support gun violence survivors, connect survivors to each other, and amplify the power of their voices, by offering trauma-informed programs, and supporting survivor advocates for gun safety. 4,000 gun violence survivors take part in the Everytown Survivor Network.
Share Kindness and Art. Grief, confusion, and anger are sometimes hard feelings to move through and communicate. Art can be a powerful tool for helping people express and share emotions that are difficult to put into words. Creating art that evokes frustration, sorrow and hope for the future can start much needed conversations surrounding gun control and mass school shootings.

Love2Learn?

Want to learn more about guns in America, but don’t know where to start? Below are some resources with more in-depth and easily digestible information about how we got this attitude towards guns and gun control in America.

The Violence Inside Us: A Brief History of an Ongoing American Tragedy (2020), Chris Murphy Book - Is America destined to always be a violent nation? This sweeping history by U.S. senator Chris Murphy explores the origins of our violent impulses, the roots of our obsession with firearms, and the mythologies that prevent us from confronting our national crisis. In many ways, the United States sets the pace for other nations to follow. Yet on the most important human concern—the need to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe from physical harm—America isn’t a leader. We are disturbingly laggard. To confront this problem, we must first understand it. In this carefully researched and deeply emotional book, Senator Chris Murphy dissects our country’s violence-filled history and the role that our unique obsession with firearms plays in this national epidemic.
School Police (2022), Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Television Show/YouTube Clip - In the wake of the mass shooting in Uvalde, John Oliver discusses the push for more police in schools and whether they are the answer to our school safety issues, or a new problem altogether.
I Survived a School Shooting (2021), Other People’s Lives Podcast - A student from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School talks about surviving the Parkland shooting in 2018 and how it affected his life.
Making a Killing: Guns, Greed, and The NRA (2016), Brave New Films Documentary - The film looks into gun tragedies that include unintentional shootings, domestic violence, suicides, mass shootings and trafficking - and what we can do to put an end to this profit-driven crisis. It tells the stories of how guns, and the billions made off of them, affect the lives of everyday Americans. It features personal stories from people across the country who have been affected by gun violence, including survivors and victims' families. The film exposes how the powerful gun companies and the NRA are resisting responsible legislation for the sake of profit - and thereby putting people in danger. Through this film and campaign, Brave New Films will work with partners to fight for a country where public safety is more valued than profit.

Maggie for Short :)

I survived. I am lucky enough to have survived the American public school system. That may sound dramatic, but many can’t say the same and I am heart broken for their families and the pain they must feel every. single. time. their country again and again turns a blind eye to this weekly, sometimes daily death and devastation. This should not be a political statement. I’m not sure why it’s a debate whether or not we should take steps (steps that have worked for other countries time and time again) to stop children, the future leaders and makers of our country from dying before they even hit puberty. This is common decency…right?

I found Lex Marie while scrolling through TikTok one day. How she expresses her emotions and thoughts through her art is exactly the kind of art I want to promote via Aeverywhere.

Please consider checking out some of the resources in the How2Help section of this newsletter. Although I had never heard of Senator Chris Murphy or his work before picking up his book, it was a really eye-opening read and gave me both intimate personal stories related to gun violence as well as an overarching/broader history of gun use that showed me how the current aura/personality formed around guns in America. Highly recommend it.