Category: Holiday

Memorial Day

~ susie ~ 2 Comments

American, Like Mississippi

On Memorial Day, we observe the deaths of soldiers because they died “for our freedom.” We should add an observance for all the people who died of gun violence because, at least according to the politicians, they also “died for our freedom.” (You know, the freedom to accept large cash donations from the gun lobby.)

I’ve said for years that people who live outside major cities have a very different perspective on guns. (As you’ve seen here from my friend Boohunney.) Here, they’re nothing but weapons of death and destruction. We don’t hunt deer on the streets of Philadelphia, we hunt human beings.

And of course, we have the inevitable reality of the people who die from stray bullets. At least once a month, someone dies here in their bedroom or while playing video games when a bullet blows through the brick walls of a house.

We have mass shootings almost every day. But for some reason, they don’t make the national news. Just another drive-by shooting, just another dispute between drug gangs.

And more funerals for young men who haven’t even graduated high school. It makes me so sad.

This is just the past few days. I probably missed some:

Man, 49, shot in the back and killed in North Philadelphia

Double shooting in Fairhill kills 1 man, injures 1 woman, officials say

Nine-Year-Old and His Father Killed in Drive-By Shooting in Philadelphia

Police: Triple shooting injures man and 2 teens in Logan

Multiple shootings kick-off violent Memorial Day weekend in Philadelphia

Police: Triple shooting leaves 2 teens critically injured in Penn’s Landing

4-year-old child wounded, hospitalized after West Philadelphia shooting

Man dead, 2 women injured in triple shooting in East Germantown, police say

Police: 1 man fatally shot and woman, 25, injured in Kensington double shooting

 

Gotta love it

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

“White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society…The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism…”Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the 1619 Project, is also one of the most interesting people on Twitter. Here’s what happened to her when she was invited to speak on Martin Luther King day:

Read the whole thing. Hats off to you, professor!