Chewing on gun violence
Introducing Ethan, our first guest contributor from the future generation
This is Ethan. I’ve known him since he was a few weeks old. Took him around the neighborhood in the stroller when we lived in Seattle. Gave him his first taste of lentils and the nickname “E-Dog.”
The three-dollar sunglasses from Target that he’s sporting in the photo? They would be from his Auntie Kim, when we celebrated his Bar Mitzvah last summer.
His mom and I met on our yoga mats 20 years ago. Last week, she sent me a poem that Ethan wrote in response to the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 children and two adults. As he wraps up seventh grade, Ethan agreed to continue the thread, in hopes that an adult might stop and listen. What follows are his own words. —kod
P.S. Do you have a Junior Mint in your life with something to say about the world in which we live? Send’em my way. I’d be honored to showcase their work in this space.
I feel like that since I am a child my voice doesn’t count, but there is always someone who is willing to take a chance and listen. Maybe you could be the person to take that chance.
I feel ashamed to be a citizen of this country right now because of all the recent events that have happened. I think that the recent tragedies of gun violence in our nation have made me think more about politics more carefully.
I feel like it is not the fault of the person that had the gun, or even the person that sold them the gun. I think that it is the fault of the people that don’t want to pass a simple law that requires a background check for people that want to buy a gun.
Inside my heart and head, I feel that our country has gotten bad enough that we should have autonomous places within states with our own laws that say no weapons are even allowed to be owned or used. I hope that with the power of the people, we can change so that there is no more gun violence and there will be laws to prevent guns being legal to have, and even more laws that the no gun violence law can never be revoked.
There is a point for me when I just am sad for the whole day and nothing can change that because I keep thinking about Buffalo, NY, and Uvalde, Texas. I really can’t form words about it.
I agree with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr. We really don’t need a moment of silence, we need action.
We need to step up and do something. And I promise on my life that these are not hollow words, they are what will happen. I just hope that when I am older, my kids will not have to deal with this and will have a safer world.
Ethan’s got the heart and understanding of the repeating problem of guns. Good to hear from a Junior Mint and hope he and his generation will lead this country with new principles to guide the masses.
I admire him, his poem-writing and his sensitivities. Let there be more of it. Keep fighting the power.
UH … “Wake Up Everybody”-Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes, 1975 on Philadelphia International Records.