All of us, especially those of us with kids, are shocked and saddened by the murder of nearly 30 people at Newtown, CT, most of whom were kids ages 5-10. Apparently, there were vigils across the country, as people needed to come together to mourn. My wife and I attended one such vigil in our neighborhood in Park Slope, Brooklyn at the Old Stone House.
NY City Councilman Brad Lander spoke eloquently of the importance for communities to come together, especially at a time like this, not only to mourn, but to organize and act for change. We also heard from the executive director of the Old Stone House and a Crown Heights anti-violence organization, Save Our Streets Crown Heights.
One of the things Lander also spoke to was the fact that those of us who live in Park Slope are, relatively speaking, lucky to live in the bubble of this area. As he pointed out, less than a mile away in other areas of Brooklyn, there are people who live with gun violence on a daily basis. Newtown was a tragedy, period. It is also a tragedy the nearly 40 teenagers killed in a summer of brutal gang violence in Chicago. Or the estimated 32 people killed by guns everyday across the country.
For those who feel that big money has overtaken politics in the form of the gun lobby, I would remind you that the recent election was a great example of popular will subverting the will of billionaires and corporations. It can be done.
The question is how bad do we want to fight that fight?
Here are a few photos from the event:
You must be logged in to post a comment.