11 Comments
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May 25, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

Beautiful as always, and I think lying down in the street is a damn good idea. We need a movement.

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Oh my gosh, so grateful to you. Thank you for this.

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May 25, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

Thank you, Courtney. Once again, my heart is broken open. As a teacher and a mother and a grandmother, I am with you to stop access to these war weapons. Hugs to you!

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Thank you for these words, Courtney -- I haven't been able to find adequate ones today, despite trying (perhaps because there are no adequate ones).

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Thank you for putting this into words. Grateful for you and for the MALS.

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Thank you

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May 26, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

Thank you, Courtney.

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May 25, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

thank you for your humanity, which can sound hamfisted, but seriously, it really feels like it's slipping away from us.

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May 25, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

I can't begin to find words for this latest tragedy because the cumulative force of the violence is inexpressible. The sidebar in today's NY Times that charts the nine massacres throughout the U.S. that have happened only so far this year (p.A19) prove that America is incapable of stopping this hideous scourge. Then, watching Lupita Nyong'o's "Sulwe's Song" with her visit to the Renaissance Youth Center class two years ago, was a perfect illustration of the empathic emotions that we all should have. Yet, in my present mood, traumatized by these horrors, I had a terrible thought that overpowered me: what if a killer suddenly entered this class and murdered these beautifully joyous little children? How can we stop these nightmares from occurring? At any rate, if anyone can put into words the inexpressible, then it's Courtney, so please keep them coming! DD

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May 25, 2022Liked by Courtney Martin

I can not get out of my mind that one little boy, all dressed up to attend the ceremony for children on the honor roll at school, with his mother looking on so proudly, was one of the children killed a few hours later. I cannot get out of my mind that just one more day and no children would have been in school. I cannot get it out of my head how mentally ill this young man was and because he lived in Texas, he could walk into a store and buy two guns on his 18th birthday with no permit, no waiting period, nothing. This week's message from you says it all, Courtney. Thank goodness your girls are celebrating their rites of passage.

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Hi Courtney. I have been thinking all the same things. What you are describing is a deep form of empathy that is needed from every human in order for us to really see one another as both an individual but also someone we are connected to on a fundamental level. There is a profound music video by Michael Franti called The Flower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0N5OEpxbFY). In it people who have lost loved ones to gun violence hold up signs. I, like you, can't imagine that level of loss and the strength everyone who has lost someone to gun violence needs to take a step forward. We need each other. We belong to each other. We need to take care of one another. Thank you for sharing.

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