Our cups have been emptied. We watch videos of parents wailing outside school buildings, asking God for mercy on their children. We hear the numbers – 19 babies – dead. Two innocent teachers – dead. We clutch our hearts, stammer a prayer and within moments we are distracted by the minutia of the day. We might take a moment to consider security in our child’s school, and even ponder on the heartbreak we feel for those families. But we do not quiet the country, lower all flags, hold hands across America and commit to fighting for change. Instead, some stupid politicians instruct teachers to take up arms. Our cups have been emptied.

We have seen too much and suffered through too much. We have watched too many lives be stolen and dreams slaughtered in schoolhouses, malls, and grocery stores across America. We have watched too many politicians double down on their support of the Second Amendment and the right to bear all arms at all costs. Many have stood silently as those elected by the people have turned those people against one another. Some politicians seem to be in the business of pain-for-profit. It is not just that they don’t represent us – it is that they do nothing to protect us.

When did we normalize learning that nineteen people were murdered in one hour? When did we stop weeping for innocent lives lost? When did we develop steeled nerves in the face of atrocity? How long can a country run on empty?

I am worried because I cannot allow myself to hold the pain of the families in Texas, or Buffalo before them. I cannot put myself through the mental manipulation of imagining the families of the murdered school teachers hearing politicians say that the teachers should have had guns. I cannot watch this time. I cannot cry anymore. My cup is empty.

I have pushed down the rage that makes me want to protest every politician who votes against gun reform. I have reminded myself that this is not about race – they are not just doing nothing because the children were brown – they also do not care about white children with blonde hair and blue eyes, who get murdered in elementary schools with names like Sandy Hook. The hearts of these politicians are hollow and their work is empty.

If politicians want history to show how small they were and how little they cared, they will continue down this path. They will continue to build buildings and invest in infrastructure and allow trails of human debris to line the souls and sidewalks of American cities, all while claiming to be the greatest country in the world.

We cannot claim to be great when we allow those we elect to wring their hands while offering the parents of dead children, thoughts, prayers, and ammunition. The greatest country in the world would protect its children. The greatest country in the world would protect its teachers. If we were striving for greatness, we would pass gun reform and outlaw certain types of weapons.

We put seatbelts in cars and implemented seatbelt laws because they saved lives. We did not do away with cars but we changed the product that the public could access. These politicians know what to do they just don’t care enough to do it and we won’t make them because our cups are empty. We don’t cry anymore. We are accustomed to death and murder and mayhem. We are too weak to stand our ground.

Nineteen families will cry themselves to sleep tonight. One husband has already suffered more than he could manage, died from a broken heart, and left four children with no parents. Can we bring ourselves, for a moment, to imagine the pain they are in and consider that we are the ones with the power to change our country? Can we muster the courage to be better than we are?

In Kentucky, can we even change the law that prohibits the destruction of weapons confiscated from those engaged in criminal activity? Even a gun used to kill a cop can be placed back in the open market. Blue lives matter – unless it is an inconvenience.

We need an army of corporate leaders to pledge to discontinue donating to the campaign of any politician opposed to gun reform. We need teachers’ unions to stand up and refuse to endorse politicians opposed to their survival. We need police unions to organize against political pragmatists that prioritize the gun lobby. In many cases, and certainly in Kentucky, we have elected people who are numbed by the profit in our pain and immune to the torment of parents, and children left without them.

God bless Texas and Buffalo and Sandy Hook and all the people desensitized to the slaughtering of innocent lives. I wish a cup of conscience, caring, and compassion, not just on the paralyzed politician but also on their corporate enabler. Our cups have been emptied and their pockets filled. If only we could truly be comforted by thoughts, prayers, and ammunition.

Sadiqa N. Reynolds, Esq.
President & CEO
Louisville Urban League

©Louisville Urban League 2022
Words by Sadiqa Reynolds
Produced by Lyndon Pryor
Spoken by (in order of appearance) Sadiqa Reynolds, Lyndon Pryor, Liliana Ucan Shadle, Josiah Finley, Brianna Woods