These past couple of weeks have been hard in the world. Now I could say the past couple of years have been hard on the world. Violence in this world & in the US (and do to the US in other countries) has been ridiculous. We have all seen the headlines over the past few years shooting at a school, at a mall, at a church, at a college, running marathons, concerts and even peoples homes. And don’t get me started on Black Lives Matter we all know whats going on there.
In all of these situations there is something in common GUNS. In each of these situations some mentally ill person gets a hold of a gun or a corrupt cop gets a little too power hungry & shoots an unarmed black person 20 times.
This week is just a long list of incredibly hard to hear about shootings. First you have poor Christina Grimmie who I watched on the Voice during her season. She wasn’t my favorite contestant on the show but hearing of this is just hard. She had such promise and seemed like such a fun person from what I saw on the show. Apparently before she even got on the Voice she was found by Selena Gomez’s step dad on Youtube at 14. He then became her manager and was with her the night she was shot. Friday night June 1oth Christina was performing in Orlando and then like most artist she was doing a signing/meet and greet with her fans. A deranged man came up to her and started to shoot her with his two hand guns with fans and her brother watching. He shot her in the head and other vital places but her brother ended up stepping in. He tackled the guy and then the guy shot himself.
Since all of this fans and celebrities have been poring in the love for this girl gone too soon. Everybody from her Voice coach Adam Levine to the other Voice coaches and staff to Selena Gomez, Twenty One Pilots & Justin Bieber dedicating a song to her. Adam even said he would pay for her funeral and her manager put up a go fund me page to raise money in her honor. She was only 22 years old.
With in 48 hours another tragedy happened in the same city at a popular LGBTQIA night club Pulse. A nightclub started in 2004 in memory of the owners brother who died of aids in 1991. It was a safe haven for those in the gay community and especially those of color in the gay community to come and let loose and be authentically themselves. It was Salsa night. Early Sunday June 13th that freedom was taken away. A guy named Omar came into the club and in the span of 3 hours killed 50 people and injured 53 others. Its being called the deadliest mass shooting in American history. (which we all know is not true but will get into that later) 1 assault rifle hurt over 100 people who were just trying to live their life.
Now in the wake of this horrific event Sunday of course there has been over whelming support for Orlando but of course there have also been some people who like to show their true self to people.
The media almost always puts their own spin on the news to get people riled up over it. For this one due to the fact that the shooter was an American-Afghani Muslim born in the US, this automatically links him to ISIS and ramps up the Islamic-phobia again which never really went away. He was an US citizen born here and yes his parents where from Afghanistan but he wasn’t. They also started stating that alegtly the shooter called 911 and pledged his algence to ISIS. Now I’m seeing people on twitter getting all pissed off at Muslims who by the way are celebrating the holy month of Ramadan and fasting minding there own. Just because one evil hateful person (yet they are saying there might have been more) does harm to people does not mean all Muslims are hateful. I hate that people combat hate with more hate it’s so stupid because the people who say they want love for one group should want love for all.
Also there are Muslims in the LGBTQIA community that are one fasting during Ramadan and two celebrating Pride. To be Muslim and gay in this time is so hard. They are already being discriminated against on both levels but now due to this its even worse.
Then you have the most ridiculous thing to come out of this whole thing is that since there are 53 people in critical condition in need of blood people from all over the country have come to donate O+ blood even of course gay men who wanna support their own. Sadly the blood banks are turning away gay men due to that “urban legend” that gay men who have had sex within the past 12 months will give everybody else aids or HIV. I hate stereotypes and feel that we really need to wake up. A person is a person and to all those who are trying to be all compassionate to the LGBTQIA community all of a second yet are hating on Muslims and not letting gay men donate blood are just as hateful as the shooter that night.
Then of course you have the biggest bigot of all Trump who has said pretty much his whole campaign that he doesn’t want immigrants in this country and he will do anything in his power to not have them here. He also has been condemning the Islamic state as well and trying to blame everything over there on ISIS. So when Sunday happened Trump was quick to pat himself on the back and said that he was right about radical terrorist and basically he wants our country to not let anyone into the US from terrorist regions. We are a country of immigrants whether you moved here intentionally or were forced here we all came from somewhere else unless your indigenous. To condemn immigrants would be wrong as that is our foundation in this country.
Also I have seen a lot of Indigenous people in this country disclaiming this headline that this is the deadliest shooting in American history. They are saying how this massacre was not the deadliest that Wounded Knee, Mountain Massacre and Tulsa Massacre was more devastating. They feel that this massacre is white washing history and not dealing with what was done to the Indigenous people in this country. Being that I am Native American I can totally agree with them I feel the same way but this was more the lone wolf not a military or a large group of shooters it was just one guy (that we know of).
But I get it how history can be white washed. Just like this shooting where majority of the victims where Latino and its already starting to become white washed in the stories I’m seeing. I saw an article where one of my favorite people My So-Called Life star Wilson Cruz who since he came out way back when has been a champion in the LGBTQIA community and the community of color working with Glaad and other organizations. (plus he is really cute) He said we shouldn’t white wash this incident. Trans and LGBTQIA people of color are already discriminated against everyday in this country and other countries so to not say those people were Latino is discrimination in its self.
Oh and not even but a week or two ago there was the Troy Ave shooting at the T.I. concert which goes into a two different conversations one on gun control and one on safety at concerts. Concert venues need to get better security at shows as well as do better checks when people walk into the doors. Then we really need to make it harder for just random people to get guns so easily. It should be ten times harder than it is to get a gun. In Australia they had the government buy back their guns in the wake of one mass shooting in the ’90s and haven’t had any sense. It just breaks my heart that every week it feels like we have to hear about another mass shooting or another death of an unarmed black or brown person. How many more deaths must we have before we get it together?! How many more families must lose loved ones to the hands of a gun?! We really need to do better in this country for real. This is getting to be too much.
In this time of such global pain everyone’s attention should be on spreading love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE!!!
Anyway I just pray for all those in the LGBTQIA community, Latino community, Florida, Orlando, Concert Goers, Turtle Island & Mother Earth. Sending you all ten tuns of love & peace!!!
Here are some videos and articles to help explain what I said a little better. Also some music to listen to help spread love and get through this trying time.
My Two Cents on FB:
“So still think we need guns out here? I am all for having one for self defense or for hunting your own food but this is straight ridiculous! A whole school of little kids get shot nobody does anything, a South Carolina church gets shot nobody does anything, movie theaters, malls, colleges, ect. ect. & nobody takes any legal action to get these guns out of the hands of these crazy people and now the deadliest shooting in American History (if were only counting the lone wolfs) yet nothing is being done! DO SOMETHING AMERICA!!! (Oh and don’t blame this on Muslims who are fasting because his name is Omar)” #OrlandoShooting #LoveIsLove #PeaceforAll
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