Community Voices: Rainbow Protectors
This is the first installment of the Community Voices part of this blog. The goal of this part of the blog is to add more voices to the topics I address. I firmly believe that the more we talk about being Upstanders the more courage we will have to act like Upstanders.
If you did get a chance to read Rainbow Protectors click here for the link.
Here is the question I posed last post:
I would like you to think about how you can help the students from Stoneman Douglas and around our country work to stop mass shootings in America?
These are the Community Voices:
Anne Lunkes from Chicago, Illinois said:
Improved gun control laws including a national registry and universal laws/ regulations for purchasing
and owning a gun (every state is different). It is more difficult to drive and buy a car than a gun! This
should not be a partisan issue. Of course, improved mental health programs in the US.
and owning a gun (every state is different). It is more difficult to drive and buy a car than a gun! This
should not be a partisan issue. Of course, improved mental health programs in the US.
Catherine Thompson from Arlington Heights, Illinois said:
Listen to our young people. They are our future.
Abaapai from Decatur, Georgia said:
I am reminded of a quote from the movie "Gandhi" when the reporter Margaret Bourke-White asks Gandhi, "Do you really think nonviolence could work against someone like Hitler?" Gandhi responds "Not without defeats, and great pain. But are there no defeats in war? No pain? What you cannot do is accept injustice. From Hitler, or anyone. You must make the injustice visible, and be prepared to die like a soldier to do so."
I heard a quote on NPR where a student from the high school in Florida asked Marco Rubio, "Can you assure us that you will never take a donation from the NRA again?" Which he sidestepped in a typical politician fashion. The students calling "B.S." provide the most important voice that has been missing in this debate: accountability. If you study the way things have changed over time, it has been constant efforts to shine a light on injustice and to make it visible to everyone that have created possibilities for change. When the forces arrayed against change are so powerful and entrenched as the gun lobby, we need to magnify and extend the accountability that exists in the moments after a tragedy like this one and make that anger and the injustice of these lost lives be front and center in everyone's mind. It is exhausting, it feels futile at times, and it is frustrating. But exposing the injustice and making it visible to hold lawmakers accountable for their collusion with making guns a "culture war" issue instead of an issue that costs thousands of innocent lives each year is the path to change. We must make the injustice visible, over and over again, and to more and more people until they feel the fatigue we feel. Another quote from the movie is "The function of a civil resister is to provoke response. We will continue provoking until we get a response or the law is changed." Keep provoking and keep making the injustice visible until we get a response.
I heard a quote on NPR where a student from the high school in Florida asked Marco Rubio, "Can you assure us that you will never take a donation from the NRA again?" Which he sidestepped in a typical politician fashion. The students calling "B.S." provide the most important voice that has been missing in this debate: accountability. If you study the way things have changed over time, it has been constant efforts to shine a light on injustice and to make it visible to everyone that have created possibilities for change. When the forces arrayed against change are so powerful and entrenched as the gun lobby, we need to magnify and extend the accountability that exists in the moments after a tragedy like this one and make that anger and the injustice of these lost lives be front and center in everyone's mind. It is exhausting, it feels futile at times, and it is frustrating. But exposing the injustice and making it visible to hold lawmakers accountable for their collusion with making guns a "culture war" issue instead of an issue that costs thousands of innocent lives each year is the path to change. We must make the injustice visible, over and over again, and to more and more people until they feel the fatigue we feel. Another quote from the movie is "The function of a civil resister is to provoke response. We will continue provoking until we get a response or the law is changed." Keep provoking and keep making the injustice visible until we get a response.
Anne Noonan from Chicago, Illinois said:
Be kind. Take action if something is not right. Treat MENTAL illness.
Mrs. Walsh from Chicago, Illinois said:
I don't know that I (an old lady) can do much to help the students. I do admire them and I am very
impressed with they way they communicate. I hope that they can persevere and encourage more
students to do the same. It seems the students have started a movement that the adults were not able
to start. I hope they are another Greatest Generation. We need integrity in our people. Our problems
are very deep. It is going to be a difficult road. At this time they have made progress with companies
not giving NRA special discounts.
I believe that since our country legalized abortion, the "culture of death" has taken over. In so many
ways life has no value. Our country needs God.
impressed with they way they communicate. I hope that they can persevere and encourage more
students to do the same. It seems the students have started a movement that the adults were not able
to start. I hope they are another Greatest Generation. We need integrity in our people. Our problems
are very deep. It is going to be a difficult road. At this time they have made progress with companies
not giving NRA special discounts.
I believe that since our country legalized abortion, the "culture of death" has taken over. In so many
ways life has no value. Our country needs God.
Sorry, that I really didn't give an answer to how to help the students and only carried on with my
opinion. At this time, I think all I can do is pray that the students have wisdom and strength.
Luke from Chicago, Illinois said:
I think the main thing we need to do is identify these problem kids and do more about them. Gun
control may help but a lot of these guns are obtained illegally on the black market anyway. I think we
need to help the students, or individuals who have mental issues and change our mentality towards
violence in this country. In other words gun control may help but the main thing we need to change is
the people. We need to offer better solutions to these problem citizens and hopefully stop them before
it's too late.
If you would like to respond to one of the Community Voices please do so in the comment section below.
control may help but a lot of these guns are obtained illegally on the black market anyway. I think we
need to help the students, or individuals who have mental issues and change our mentality towards
violence in this country. In other words gun control may help but the main thing we need to change is
the people. We need to offer better solutions to these problem citizens and hopefully stop them before
it's too late.
If you would like to respond to one of the Community Voices please do so in the comment section below.
Some people want me to have a gun to defend my students? Some people think we could stop mass shootings if we had enough counselors? How about we don't allow people to stockpile weapons and ammunition? How about we also look at the some of the root causes of massive levels of mental illness? Systemic racial injustice, loneliness, violence and neglect, rampant consumerism which has us all trapped in an arms race of working more and more hours to buy our children presents that they don't need, when what our children really need is our presence. Governments that save money by building schools so big that millions of children never really feel like they are anybody at all. The framing of education as a race to get as smart as you can as fast as you can so that you don't end up a "loser" instead of education that takes the time to nurture the innate creativity and curiosity of every child. Modern US society is built on measuring people's worth on their ability to be successful, rather than promoting the truth that we can all be successful when we feel worthy and valuable. We have cheapened life in the USA by conflating it with economic value. Violence is the language of fear. More violence creates more fear. I have a weapon far more powerful than a gun in my classroom: love. Sounds trite, sounds ridiculous, but you cannot shoot people you love, and you don't need to shoot people when you feel loved. Don't give me a gun, give me a class size of 15, give me enough time to meet the real needs of my students, give my students recess, healthy food, access to healthcare and safe spaces, and time to feel fully human.
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