GenFab bloggers across the country are raising their voices in unison and saying stop it now. We want to be a constructive voice after the most recent school shooting. We are linking our stories together, other’s links are at the end of this post.
Mother Teresa said to do little things with great love.
I do not pretend to have the answers to how to stop the escalating violence in this country. But I am no longer going to feel helpless and do nothing. I’m using the hashtag #stopitnow. We all have a voice, it’s time to use it. If you have a constructive comment or idea on how to break the cycle of violence, feel free to use the hashtag. And I know it’s not that simple. Inspired by Mother Teresa’s quote, I’ve come up with 10 simple things I can do. They are ten tiny baby steps, but it has me moving forward.
1. Turn off the news.
2. Educate myself on the issues.
3. Communicate to my representative on the state and national level.
4. Vote.
5. Do not argue; only engage in a civil conversation.
6. Do not give into helplessness or anger.
7. Get involved in an organization that reflects my beliefs.
8. Live in the moment and hold those I love tightly.
9. Practice random acts of kindness.
10. Do not learn the name of the gunman; do not reward him with fame. Learn the name and stories of those whose lives were cut short.
Charlotte Bacon (6 yrs old)
Daniel Barden (7 yrs old)
Olivia Engel (6 yrs old)
Josephine Gay (7 yrs old)
Ana Marquez-Greene (6 yrs old)
Dylan Hockley (6 yrs old)
Madeleine Hsu (6 yrs old)
Catherine Hubbard (6 yrs old)
Chase Kowalski (7 yrs old)
Jesse Lewis (6 yrs old)
James Mattioli (6 yrs old)
Grace McDonnell (7 yrs old)
Emilie Parker (6 yrs old)
Jack Pinto (6 yrs old)
Noah Pozner (6 yrs old)
Caroline Previdi (6 yrs old)
Jessica Rekos (6 yrs old)
Avielle Richman (6 yrs old)
Benjamin Wheeler (6 yrs old)
Allison Wyatt (6 yrs old)
Rachel Davino (29 y/o, Teacher)
Dawn Hochsprung (47 y/o, School principal)
Nancy Lanza (52 y/o, Mother of gunman)
Anne Marie Murphy (52 y/o, Teacher)
Lauren Rousseau (30 y/o, Teacher)
Mary Sherlach (56 y/o, School psychologist)
Victoria Soto (27 y/o, Teacher)
Amen. Blessed Be. Namaste.
Below are powerful words penned by the #GenFab blogging community.
Karen Wendy Irving: Thoughts on another senseless tragedy
Sharon Greenthal: The Sandy Hook Massacre and Gun Control: What You Can do to Help
We Are All Guilty When Any Child is Shot Dead (ReasonCreek.com)
Gun Control is a Parenting Issue (HuffPost Parents)
The Sandy Hook Massacre and Gun Control (EmptyHouseFullMind.com)
When will we ever learn? (Middle-AgedDiva.com)
Monday Morning after Connecticut: Hug Your Kids and Let Them Go (MomFaze.com)
Hope for Humanity Rests with the Individual (TheFurFiles.com)
We Are All Guilty When Any Child is Shot Dead (ReasonCreek.com)
Gun Control is a Parenting Issue (HuffPost Parents)
Justin Trudeau and the long gun registry (macleans.ca) (Just in case you think we’ve got it all figured out in Canada)
Thoughts on Yet Another Senseless Tragedy – After the Kids Leave
Hope for Humanity Rests With the Individual– The Furflies
On Love, On Silence, On Speaking Our Minds – Daily Plate of Crazy
Parents, it’s Up to Us to Stop Gun Violence -Yvonne Condes on MomsLA
After Newtown – Holding Them Close – SoCal Mom
Searching for a Child – Searching for an Answer – Relocation the Blog
Of Guns and Sleeping Elephants – After the Kids Leave
Newtown Old News – Darryle Pollack
Monday Morning After Connecticut – Momfaze
Gun Control Would Not Have Prevented Sandy Hook – resoulin’ My Dancing Shoes
Bullet Points or Me and a Gun – The 3 R’s Blog
Countdown to the End of the World – Ronna Benjamin on Betterafter50.com
A Call for Action – The Giggling Trucker’s Wife
Solve for X – Ambling and Rambling
Wordlessness, Action, and the Sandy Hook Tipping Point – Marci Rich
What They Should Have – The Boomer Rants
Guns Do Kill People – Style Substance Soul
Do Something – Write Mind Open Heart
Why I Believe We Are Bigger Than Our Weapons – Donna Highfill
A Broken Heart – The Kids are Grown, Now What?
When Evil Shadows Good – Books Is Wonderful
Knowing That No Sense Can Be Made of the Newtown Tragedy – Midlife Bloggers
Dirge – Life With the Campbells
It’s Up to Us to Stop the Violence – Your Family Viewer
Very helpful, thanks. I can’t read the names of the babies. It hurts too much.
Lynne, I really do understand. Thanks for commenting.
Nicely done. I do, however, disagree with not learning the killer’s name. He is vital to understanding and possibly making something better. I do not hate him and honestly, I don’t even know if I can blame him. We don’t know enough to hate or condemn him. He did an evil thing and learning more of his life and what might have spurred him can only help us prevent future attacks. We will never be FREE of them because there will always be evil and there will probably always be deranged.
As a nation though, we must look for answers and then ACT on them.
God bless you.
Jo, thank you for your thoughtful comment. I actually agree with you. My thought in not learning his name is rooted in my belief that these killers do it for fame, to go out in a blaze of glory and they want their name to be remembered forever. If we take away their fame and make them anonymous, perhaps this way to become infamous would dissolve. I am deeply saddened with all the mass killings; I know the names of the killers and not of those whose lives they cut short.
Thank you for your suggestions and for including my post in this comprehensive list of responses to this tragedy. We are all Newtownians now.
Donna, it’s just what us moms do.
Donna, yes we are in this together.
Thank you for doing this. More voices raised gives us strength – in more ways than one.
Small steps and powerful voices
I think it’s inevitable that we will remember the killer’s name, but I wish we didn’t have to. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation, Connie. There is strength in numbers.
Thanks Helene, we must remember our own strength and power, especially in these times of feeling helpless.
I think Mother Teresa would be proud to have inspired this.
That is a huge complement. Thank you for making my day.