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32 Seconds of Silence to Honor the 32 Lives Silenced on a Spring Morning One Year Ago......
Last Year on this date, on a hazy Virginia Morning, 32 people lost their lives by 10am they were all gone...and others were wounded and scarred for life. The WaPo has a lovely tribute on their site that tells a little about each of the Victims, and WHO they were as people. They all were interesting, and wonderful people at the peak of their lives. It is sad that a young man in such trouble, not getting the care or support he truly needed resorted to this Violent Inexplicable Ending. We never got the whole story....and maybe we never will. In the Comments and here later tonight I will post more about Gun Safety Actions that planned and being pursued today and around the County and in DC. Or you may call the Brady Compaign at 1-202-898-0792 to learn more. 100,000 People are wounded or killed per year in incidents with FireArms.
There are Lie-Ins and Memoriams planned today around the Country, atleast 32 Planned in more than 70 Communities. To Learn more you can go to the Site : ProtestEasyGuns.com, or go to the Brady Campaign to learn more about today and What you can do, as well as Legislation that needs our Support, especially to better protect students and young people around the country. It is time to urge Congress to repair dangerous loopholes in the laws that allows dangerous felons and convicted Domestic Abuse perpetrators to easily obtain weapons.
Here in Ohio, as a Consequence of this horrendous rampage last year there are people attempting to pursue Concealed Weapon Permits for college campuses, for the Students. There are many here that are concerned that this will only feed a bigger problem.( It has been pointed out that Cho could have even gotten such a permit legally.) Yet funding for the care and support he needed has been cut from programs around the country.
The Video that is attached to this Post was chosen by my teenage son, 6-6. It is called "Tear Drop" by Massive Attack. It is very moving, listen to it, it is a beautiful song. We had an amazing conversation last night about the Killings and Gun Laws. We talked about how Many that say they wish to "Protect Life" are the same ones that support the NRA. 6-6 said " they support the Lives UNTIL they get here, and then they don't". He also pointed out as a young person that this week was interesting , he got to see a Presidential Candidate drink and talk about Letting Children "Go Shooting " with the Family. He pointed out that he didn't know what she meant, and it came off wrong, that kids should be allowed to shoot ANYTHING ? He also asked why there were Not age Limits for Children and guns, after all there are age limits for learning to drive and drinking , and in the wrong hands Both can cause Harm. He said sadly it seems that the 2nd Amendment does not really protect children, only Guns and Gun Companies. Shootings and gun victims are reported on the news here almost nightly, he said he should not be "used" to seeing that, it is as "familiar as the weather..and they are always young".
{{ Background , the First and ONLY time my son ever saw a gun, was by accident, he was eight, a Landlord had left it in the Kitchen Drawer of a Rental. I am blessed with an amazing son and he came to me, and did not touch or Play with the gun....He came and said, I think there is Something Very Wrong here, there is a gun in the Kitchen, a Real Gun. The Landlord, a single mom with a young son, I thought it MUST be a toy. My Son was right, it was indeed a Handgun. Loaded. I removed it from the House and returned it to the Landlord with a Messege of my Concerns. But since then 6-6 and I always have discussions about Guns.....with great honesty}}.
We talked about Cho too..."He needed someone to talk to. Anyone. Maybe his parents, they should not have left him alone on the College Campus alone during vacations.He needed help, it is weird that his roomates tried....I don't know but it seems like his family just kind of dumped him there... He needed more than roomates could have given.I am not blaming the family, maybe they didn't know how to get him help." If you have a young person in your life, give them your Time, your Listening Time, your Support....a Hug.
He said the Media today will spend all day on the Pope, and the Victims and their families will be lucky to get 32 Seconds of Notice......
32 Seconds of Silence....for Tears in Heaven. Namaste.
3 comments:
When sorrows come,
they come not single spies,
But in battalions.
-W. Shakespeare
They are scattered all around us
Smeared on windshields and sidewalks.
Look now upon your hands and feet;
The ashes of this unfortunate world.
Up and down the streets they blow
From church to church and home to home
Awaiting the repeat of solemn gunfire
To devour the bodies down in yearning.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones.
Coursing ever so steady comes our bewilderment
Leading us into much that is relief
For their names may well have been our own
Crouched upon the merciless floor.
It moves inside of us like some dead thing
Giving crumbs to nourish our imaginings
Of those and their private room of horror,
But all of our shelter is paralyzed by battle.
Give sorrow words.
The grief that does not speak
Whispers the o're-fraught heart,
And bids it break.
Calling out now to clergy our urgent need for comfort.
“Speak of God. Why didn't he hold him from this rage?
Shroud the dead, place his hand over their cowering?”
Now the answer we’ve come to cherish, “God’s plan.”
Thirty-three? What of one hundred and seventy?
Does God find them worthy of nails through their palms,
To suffer a hell that can't be quenched in daily loss?
They are scattered about with our fingerprints upon them
And, as with so much of our beauty, a gun takes them away.
Our nation is somewhat sad,
But we're angry.
There's a certain level of blood lust,
But we won't let it drive our reaction.
We're steady,
Clear-eyed and patient, but pretty soon
We'll have to start displaying scalps.
-George W.
PoetryMan....
wow....you are amazing..."give Sorrow words"....you are the Walt Whitman ....the Poe of Blogatopia...you are more than a wordsmith...you are a Healer with your words....
It was and is an amazingly horrible day- with the Pope and King George basking in Pomp and Circumstance....The airs DC laden damp with the Issues of War Crimes and Pedophile Crimes while the two Stand praising God in front of the flapping flags....and the well healed wealthy war profiteering audience.....
The Media swooning overthemselves to film the pompousity....
The VT tragedy eclipsed....forgotten...finally mentioned at 2pm...an "uplifting Story about a a survivor" on CNN .....a story about a student who survived by playing dead...a student who now Daily Battles PTSD.....and Whose Body is held tight by the Event of a year ago...her life changed forever....treated as Collateral Damage by the MEdia...and the govt....
just like our VETS.....
barely mentioned ....whispered.....
namaste....
A footnote about the Music :
Yes, the song is from HOUSE.....the Piercing Heartbeat....the soulful plainitive song...she sounds like she is crying....pleading...
the Group originally formed back during the first gulf war...they pursue Anti War Causes and also support work and fundraisers that aid children, esp. children in war zones...and in places of Strife and Conflict...they work closely with a group called the Hoping Foundation....
( and yes they are Brits... and half the group does have children....becoming parents as they played...)
Some other songs "Angel"...." Safe from Harm".....their music is a soulful fusion of soul, jazz and electronics..."trip Hopp" they call it....
My son wants to make Movies...and he thinks music is the key to reach people...as important as good writing.....
" you can't hear the lyrics really- but didn't you still feel your heart tugged ?"
I know he will make amazing films someday....I know that....
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