This year, I did not write a “Mother’s Day Gift Idea” blog. Because my friends and I at Moms Demand Action don’t need more flowers. We NEED our kids & friends safe from weapons of war while they are just trying to live their lives.
This advocacy fight for safety from gun violence has always been personal. From the moment my kids started practicing hiding in classrooms from armed intruders, it hit home. But 8 days ago, it finally happened. Someone I love became a victim of gun violence. A friend of mine was hit in a public shooting.
Like so many American gun victims, Victoria Luz was out living her life doing normal things and when her life was disrupted by violence. She was at a 75th birthday party in a restaurant, travelling in New Orleans for a fun Jazz Fest weekend. She was surrounded by friends when a shooter came hunting a server (fatally shot). My friend ended up with a bullet in her back.
This is what Birthday Girl, Terri Hemmert, said about that day on Facebook:
"What I did on my spring vacation. I went to New Orleans. I did not go to the Jazz and Heritage Festival. I did not eat Crawfish Monica. I did start my big birthday party. It was interrupted by a hail of bullets. 28 of my precious friends were hitting the floor. I looked to my right. Two very special women were on the floor by my feet. There was blood. And a bullet hole in the wall. Two inches from me. And a bullet in my friend’s back. It was surreal. But it was real. Only too real."
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| Image: Cindy wearing a Moms Demand t-shirt |
After processing the fear and relief of hearing about it and that she was in stable condition, I thought, "Sh-t, there it is." After years of advocating and wearing my now-worn-to-softness Moms Demand Action t-shirt to avoid a day like that...gun violence finally arrived for one of my Special People.
I’m very grateful she is alive, well cared for, and got to celebrate Mother's Day and her own birthday days later! Let me share a tiny bit about this wonderful woman who could never be encapsulated in a blog post.
She’s a mid-west, suburban mom who fiercely loves her two kids. She likes Chuck Taylor shoes, geeky comic-y stuff, Broadway musicals, costumes, and books and libraries. She is weird in all the best possible ways. She cheers on her friends in their life goals. She makes reading glasses look so good, that when it was my turn to need them, I thought “I get to be like her!” instead of being upset about needing readers. I'll also add that she's been acting against gun violence WAY before I started. She began volunteering for the national Coalition Against Handgun Violence when she was 13! She has always been a survivor, and now she is also a gun violence survivor.
People who know me might recognize that several things on that list describe me, too. Yeah, those are things we have in common and first drew us together. They’re also a reminder - as if I needed any more reminders - that this violent act can easily happen to me or any of us. This is not just a school problem or a concert security problem or a race problem or a “bad neighborhood” problem. It’s a nationwide problem that gets more and more ridiculous with every passing week when Americans are gunned down doing normal, ordinary things, like going to movies, ringing the wrong doorbell, pulling into a wrong driveway, or accidentally getting into the wrong car.
Over 650 faith leaders urged Congress to declare Mother’s Day to be declared a national day of prayer, mourning, repentance, contemplation, and action “so that we are able to overcome our country’s idolatrous worship of guns.” As far as I know, despite the too-common assurances that we have their “thoughts and prayers,” Congress didn't make any such proclamation declaration. But Mother’s Day 2023 is a Day of Action for Moms Demand Action volunteers.
Please honor this day by taking one or more of these three actions against gun violence:
- Find and event to attend for "Wear Orange" gun violence awareness week.
- Join in this Moms Demand online action or write a letter to Congress with the sample text below to suport common-sense gun legislation and re-instate the assault weapons ban.
I am writing to you as a constituent filled with grief, fear, and anger. I am fed up. As countless acts of preventable gun violence continue to threaten the safety of communities across the country day after day, I am urging you to oppose the extreme attempts to attack the ATF, including efforts to repeal the ATF’s arm brace rule, and, instead, support action on gun safety. I ask you to support common-sense legislation that would expand background checks to all gun sales, create a federal Extreme Risk Protection Order law, and reinstate the Assault Weapons Ban. This common-sense legislation can help prevent tragic mass shootings, as well as the 120 gun deaths that happen every day.
Please, I’m urging you to prioritize public safety. Take action and save lives.
- Write a social media post asking for others to take action by giving your version of "For #MothersDay I don't NEED flowers, I NEED my kids and friends safe from weapons of war while they are just trying to live their lives. I'm calling on Congress to reinstate the bipartisan assault weapons ban. Join me & text FED UP to 644-33"
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| Image: My facebook post for a Mother's Day social media action |
Now, as I hit "submit" on this blog post, I'm headed to church wearing that broken-in, red Moms Demand shirt. Because Victoria deserves all my thoughts and prayer AND actions.
Image: Book cover
Buy an autographed copy of "From Changing Diapers to Changing the World: Why Moms Make Great Advocates and How to Get Started" at my website www.changyit.com or order it from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or any independent bookstore!
