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Ashanti Kafi
Feb 25, 2023
What are we really going to do…….
On February 13, 2023 my cell phone received the following messages.
I am an ordinary person, living a quiet life. Before this night, I gave very little thought to violence and had not been impacted directly or indirectly in many years. I imagine this is the life of most people I know. No matter where we live or where we are from, mostly our lives are quiet, some may say uneventful. So on Tuesday evening, when I found out that one of the students killed was the youngest daughter of someone that I know, respect, admire, am proud of…….I wailed. My heart broke. I immediately left her a message to send my love. Her quiet life had just become very loud with anguish.
As the days went on,I thought about the impact it was having on me. Losing this beautifully bright, “Young Gifted and Black” sistah, felt like we’d lost something great, like a gigantic hole in the universe was sucking up all the good breathable air. If I were feeling this way, what must her mother be experiencing? What must all the families' collective pain feel like? I cannot comprehend the level of grief. I imagine that these families who may or may not live ordinarily quiet lives, are drowning from this violence.
There may be a particular sense of loss when we experience this level of violence, mass shootings. We can define a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot or killed. When one person determines, plans, will themselves to leave their house, pack an assault rifle, get out of a vehicle, load the weapon, point-aim-shoot to take unsuspecting lives. This kind of violence leaves us fearful, disgusted, angry, and numb. According to www.gunviolencearchive.org there have been 85 mass shootings in the US, with 126 killed in 2023. Since 2019 Michigan has seen an increase of gun violence. In our schools and in our communities, gun violence can be had. More of us are impacted. More and more of us are living in anguish and in fear. More and more and more of us are angry. So, What are we going to do about it? What can we do? Pray, write articles, petition our representatives in congress, start or join grass root organizations. Do all of the above, do any of the above, do something…..
Here's where you can start
Read Michigan Senate Bill 0076 (2023)
Contact your local representative
https://www.michigan.gov/micrc/mapping-process/final-maps
Get involved
Ashanti Kafi