Notes from Susan: Finding Hope – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Finding Hope – Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting
By Susan MacLaury
February 20, 2018
It was hard to feel hopeful this weekend, in the aftermath of yet another school shooting that killed 17 kids and caring adults. Hard not to scream while listening to legislators nod solemnly on Sunday news shows that more needs to be done to protect American children while finding ways to give themselves passes.
Harder even still reading David Leonhardt’s op ed piece in the Sunday New York Times, “Letting American Kids Die,” and learning that we have the highest child mortality rate among the top 20 wealthiest countries in the world: 6.5 thousand deaths per million vs. the average number, 3.8. This translates to 21,000 “excess deaths” of American kids each year in sharp contrast to fifty years ago when our child mortality rate was below that of these same nations. The majority of these deaths are attributable to guns, car accidents and infant mortality, all of them clearly serious problems that must be addressed.
The cause that could be addressed immediately is banning assault weapons. It seems clear that our politicians are governed by self-interest, so possibly the decision by top Republican funder, Al Hoffman, Jr., who stated: “I will not write another check unless they all support a ban on assault weapons. Enough is enough,” will have an impact on funders supporting candidates on both sides of the aisle. Let’s hope so.
I will be forever haunted by the image of 5 and 6 year old children literally cut in half in the Sandy Hook shooting and dismayed by the fact that their community’s efforts on their behalf, successful in changing Connecticut laws, didn’t make a dent nationally. As always, though, I find the greatest source of hope to be our children themselves.
This week’s shooting has galvanized the students of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to seek public support for their mission to end gun violence. It’s resonated for students who experienced similar traumatic events at their schools who’ve come out in support of them. These are our children. Let’s join them all. Let’s give them the chance to find meaning to their experiences, to thrive, to help us become the best America we can be.
A march in Washington, DC is planned for March 24th: www.marchforourlives.com/mission-statement.
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Name: Adrienne Lopez
Medina Bakayeva is a Junior studying Global Liberal Studies, Philosophy, and French at NYU. She was born in Kazakhstan, immigrated to London at a young age and spent many childhood summers in Israel. Growing up with a variety of cultural influences such as Russian, Central Asian and Israeli she is fascinated by what defines a culture, how people interact and how different customs and shared values shape our perception of the world. She is interested in journalism, documentary film, non-profit and philosophy of ethics. Medina was first introduced to Shine Global through The Eagle Huntress and, as the film documents a central aspect of Kazakh custom, was enamored by the way the protagonist, a young girl, partook in ancient traditions and crossed boundaries. She was captured by Shine Global’s mission and believes in the capacity of stories to shape our hearts and minds and is passionate about presenting empowering narratives.
Demi