Today marks six years since the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
As we honor the 17 Parkland victims and send love to their families today, we also mourn for all lives lost and forever changed by gun violence since — including everyone impacted by the shooting at the SuperBowl Parade JUST a few hours ago.
Don't let ANYONE tell you there's nothing to be done about gun violence. It’s up to the politicians WE elect to propose and enact critical gun safety measures, and other bills to protect our children and communities.
Our Vote is Our Voice. Make sure you, your friends, and your family members are all registered to vote today at weall.vote/register.
It's devastating to know that there's been another school shooting massacre again at an elementary school and we know that we can stop these tragedies from occurring again. I hope we don't ever have to go through this again especially if you're one of those who don't believe in gun control and banning assault weapons. Will you honor those killed by signing this petition to finally ban assault weapons? Let's do it for our descendants, kids, or the ones we're leaving behind in this world for when we're gone. This petition closes at midnight. #SoPleaseHurry http://lil.ms/gqq7/338j5l #ChangeTheReferees #CTR #Hook #Land #MSD #MSDStrong #Park #ParkLand #Sandy #SandyHook #Strong #Texas #Uvalde #UvaldeTexas (at Yuma Townsite, Yuma, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd_3LkmvJ7Qs30ndJeAHkM1E55hl3EHsRPOMzo0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
08/02/2022: In support of #AnikaDworet's victim impact statement @dnicm A dream that will never be attempted or fulfilled. Reposted from @packerbackercat7 02/11/2022 #regram @rememberingnickdworet Because of mass shootings, we’re never going to get this magazine. It will never exist. Felt like doing another photoshop. #RegrammerMsg: The thing is, in my belief system, when you put the thought to a physical production, you manifest it. So while on this plane of existence, it doesn't happen, but according to Bah'ai & several other paths, we exist on dimensions, explaining why time is not linear but constant like ⭕. So on another, or perhaps many other dimensions, this has happened. You may say I spent the 70's at too many #SealsAndCrofts concerts, but they made a good point: when you talk to yourself silently in your mind, where does the voice come from? #nicholasdworet #nickdworet #msdstrong #love #hope #swimmer #smile #17angels #rememberhim #rememberthem #prayersfordouglas #douglasstrong #teenageboy #rememberthe17 #parklandshooting #positivechange #tokyo #tokyo2020 #tokyoolympics #olympics #swimming #magazine #sportsillustrated #swimteam #swimseason #swim4nick (at Tokyo, Japan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxZLg7ucfi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
Remembering Gina Montalto Parents - Father Tony And Mother Jennifer Montalto
Remembering Gina Montalto Parents – Father Tony And Mother Jennifer Montalto
Gina was a wonderful soul. She was a competent individual who had an ambitious nature. Montalto was involved in sports and high school activities. The little girl could lighten up the room with her bright smile.
Gina Montalto. Never Forgotten. #MSDStrong #17Eagles pic.twitter.com/pRMYolfbqj
— Florida Department of Education (@EducationFL)February 14, 2022
She was a cheerful and eloquent young…
Three years later, today.
The cameras and the crowds long gone,
The memorials mostly removed
Or tattered, or scattered to the winds,
Or incinerated in cleansing ceremonial fire,
The building remains.
The current students and staff pass it daily.
Park next to it. Run past it. Stand in its shadow.
Wearing masks now of course because Covid.
But the 17 don’t have to wear masks.
They are exempted in the way ghosts always are.
Ever-present, sometimes remembered,
But never participants. Observers only.
The building is fenced in, faded, forlorn,
Still spattered perhaps, with their blood
In the upstairs hallway where it happened.
Dried now, brown and cracked.
Their outlines taped on the floor where they fell,
Waiting to be evidence in the trial that has never happened.
Perhaps a few shell casing still scattered around,
Or those little yellow numbers they use
On TV crime shows to mark the things
That should be noted. Jotted down.
Photographed. Recorded. Remembered.
But the 17 cannot be photographed.
They are invisible in the way ghosts always are,
And what they are now is not
How they would want to be remembered.
Three years ago, more or less,
Minus the weeks of closure, and of barricades,
As I walked past the crosses and stars,
Shining brightly in the glare of the
News media lights,
The consoling banners from everywhere,
Littered with hashtags of the moment,
Past the flowers, and candles and photos, and
Painted stones, and prayers, and mementos
From music, sport, and all the usual ephemera
Of High School normally reserved for nostalgia,
Of wistful thoughts for future years,
And stopped at a fenced corral of bicycles,
And wondered, did any of these belong
To one of the murdered?
But the 17 can no longer ride, so they (the bicycles)
Sit, and rust, unclaimed. They will be freed from
Captivity at year’s-end with bolt-cutters
To find a new home, to find a new life?
The 17 ghosts can never be freed.
They will always be there,
In or near the place where it happened.
They may tear it down, one day,
Raze it, bulldoze it, obliterate it,
Those same self-serving citizens
Who always say that guns don’t kill people,
People do. (People with guns, I presume).
The 17 know all about that.
They have heard all of the arguments,
All of the debates, all the pointless yammering
Of the politicians, and the news media,
Of those who think someone should be blamed,
And those who want to avoid being blamed.
They’ve heard it all, and watched
Official Personages hover overhead
From the safety of their helicopters, where
They look at the building and perhaps
Say something profound like,
“Is that the building? The tall one?”
“Yes it is.” “OK. I’ve seen it.
How long should we hover here?”
“Ten minutes, to make it look like our presence
Has importance. Value. Meaning. To give us
Talking points, campaign images, street cred.
To make it look as if you care. As if you know
The meaning of Empathy.
Then we can go golfing. The NRA is paying for it.
Through a shell company of a shell company.
This is Florida after all. Drinks included.”
The 17 don’t need to go fact-finding.
They were there. Are still there.
We know they’re there, we who live here.
Those of us who knew students, or teachers
Who were lost, or saw others slaughtered
Before their eyes, helpless to help,
And heard the helicopters overhead for days
And drove past the media ghouls
And those advertising an alternate reality
In which this was all an act, a farce,
And the dead students never existed,
And the grieving parents are mistaken,
And the grieving siblings are confused,
And it is all a carefully staged sham,
The blood, and bullets, and broken glass,
The deafening sound of assault weapons
Echoing off cinder-block walls.
Pretend all you want. Rant against the truth.
But the 17 are still there.
Watching you. Watching us.
Waiting to see if anything really changes.
Waiting to see if we live our lives differently.
Who would ever have imagined
An alternate universe in which
There were no school shootings
Because Covid made it so?
So thank you, pandemic, for
The unexpected gift of life.
We can only hope that,
When the plague is over,
The living will continue.
Never forget. Though we say we will never forget, the kids of this country live in a different world today. This week alone we had 3 threats to school safety. This is still real, it’s still happening. Never forget those who lost their young lives, and never forget the children still living in a world that gave this epidemic to them. #msdstrong (at Florida) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8h2hpjHqGlAU4ntXFKlPabxgQ7C90HNWqE7OM0/?igshid=1jih4it81uidx
#MSDSTRONG #FOREVER17 FOR THOSE WHO LOST SOMEONE OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO WAS EFFECTED BY THE SHOOTING THAT TOOK 17 LIVES TWO YEARS AGO REACH OUT TO THEM ESPECIALLY TODAY. HOPE EVERYONE IS STAYING STAFE AND ENJOYING THIS SPECIAL DAY https://www.instagram.com/p/B8j5vCshvVU5fFOKE0KBz0bxoIDNO8hD9mi6Zo0/?igshid=1i20s8t81abyt
Coach Aaron Feis was described as a quiet person with a good sense of humor and always ready to laugh. He always supported students, he was a friend, but he also remained an authoritative figure. Everyone loved and respected Coach Feis. On February 14, 2018, being unarmed, he jumped between the shooter and the students in order to protect them. As a result, Aaron died and received the posthumous title of hero.
Even if I wanted so much as a place to sit, his office was always open. He’d sit with me. He’d talk to me. He’d let me be in silence.
February 14, 2020: Today marks the second anniversary of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. During his solo tour, Harry Styles made a donation to the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Victims’ Fund which was set up to support the victims and their families. Read at the link above how these funds were used.
happy birthday to joaquin oliver. 💘🖤 he should be turning 19 years old today & celebrating his birthday with his loved ones. please think about them on this particularly hard day and send love their way. we will never forget about the bright spirit that joaquin was and forever will be. as a way to honour him on his birthday i will be listening to his favourite artist, frank ocean. i encourage you all to do the same today, or something else as a way to honour him. rest easy guac, we will never forget. 🥑
At Saturday's Florida Panthers game, where the arena lighted up in silent remembrance of the 17 people who lost their lives during the mass shooting in Parkland two years earlier. A sad but touching tribute. #msdstrong #parkland #theHumanityProject #respect #equality #EqualityForEachRespectForAll #religiousequality #genderequality #racialequality #lgbtqequality #betterworld https://www.instagram.com/p/B8q5izOn1dE/?igshid=1rxyvzwhhktqc