Updated Wednesday, May 25, 2022 at 8:50 a.m.
We grieve with Uvalde, Texas. We know that our future is forever changed because of the 19 children who will no longer have an opportunity to dream, to play, to learn and to thrive. We also lost the two teachers who provided such nurturing care to these children every day. Our hearts go out to the families who sent their loved ones to school today full of optimism about the promising future an education can offer, and who are now faced with the tragedy of mourning the senseless loss of their lives.
We can say that the pain felt by the families and the community of Uvalde, Texas, is unimaginable. But when do we say, enough? When do we come together and take on the inaction that’s allowing our country’s senseless self-destruction? How many lives must we sacrifice to acknowledge that our systems are broken and that the spaces that are meant to be safe harbors for our youngest residents are vulnerable to the same hate that seemingly endangers every corner of our country? Just in the past month, it was not safe to go to the grocery store or to a house of worship. Now, we must again add school to this list.
As we mourn the innocence lost and families shattered, let us also mourn a nation that sees these daily, horrifying tragedies as our predetermined fate. This is the 30th known mass school shooting this year, and the 212th mass shooting in 2022. It is maddening and should not be acceptable in a society that claims to cherish the lives of children. Ultimately, we all need to be asking ourselves why our leaders and the communities who elected them are not willing to do even the most basic things to keep children safe at school. We can choose to remain divided, or we can rise in solidarity and make sure that the souls of Uvalde, Texas, are honored through action to prevent this from happening ever again. The status quo is shameful. The time for change is now.
