May the Parkland kids forgive us for failing them so miserably

[mcar]

Something came awake in them.

That has to be the explanation. As they cowered in closets, as they said goodbyes and waited, with gunfire echoing down the halls, to die, something inside stirred itself.

And when they didn’t die, when these teenagers left the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland alive — something 17 of their classmates and teachers did not do — this newly awakened thing drove them like a truck, and they pulled out their cellphones and got to work. The latest results of that work will coalesce in Saturday’s “March For Our Lives” in Washington...


Protest is an expression of belief in the possibility of change. Maybe the rest of us lost that belief somewhere along the way. Now these kids are reminding us, but that’s not their job. They should have been able to just be kids. That they weren’t — indeed, that they almost died — speaks to our failures. It is good that we support them now with our prayers, presence and treasure.

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article206152469.html#navlink=SecList

[Wwcd]

1. K & R Thank you for posting

[mcar]

2. It's a powerful piece

Leonard Pitts is a great writer!

[gratuitous]

3. Who's "us"?

Because some of "us" have been demanding action for fucking decades. I'm glad the Parkland survivors have finally gotten some traction on this issue of people being gunned down every day in America, but who is this "us" that failed those students in the first place that nothing was done after Columbine, or Sandy Hook, or Umpqua Community College, or Las Vegas?

Who let the subject veer off into irrelevancies?

Who put the NRA and its bloodthirsty mouthpieces front and center for days on end every goddam time?

Who shrugged and said, "We'll have to leave it there" after yet another shoutfest devoid of facts (like all those dead bodies) and long on emotion?

Who gave over valuable media real estate again and again to the smug and complacent to flood the conversation with nothing more substantive than feeble thoughts and useless prayers?

We not only believe change is possible, we know it's possible. But there has been a concerted effort for decades to deny change. Who is the "us" that did that, and who is the "us" that aided and abetted that? Who is the "us" that allowed fearmongering and disinformation to rule the day again and again, while the blood continued to spill on our streets, in concert venues, in movie houses, and on school campuses?