I have full cause of weeping: but this heart shall break into a hundred thousand flaws or ere I’ll weep. – King Lear
Weep
For the Elders of Buffalo.
Weep
Because those Elders of Buffalo die at the hands of an eighteen-year-old racist.
Weep
Because this murderer didn’t think those Black Elders had the right to live.
Weep
Because this eighteen-year-old racist believed the American dream only applies to white individuals like him and his family.
Weep
Because our country values gun ownership over human life.
Weep
Because we live in a country that boasts of opportunity for those who apply themselves, yet when someone who isn’t white uses that admonishment and is successful, they are now seen as a threat.
Weep
For the Black Elders of Buffalo were not allowed to enjoy their twilight years because a white eighteen-year-old had no respect for those different from him.
Weep
Because another eighteen-year-old decided ten-year-olds didn’t need to see their 11th birthday.
Weep
For the Uvalde parents. They will never again hear the laughter of their children. For the grandparents, uncles, and aunts who will never again receive those precious hugs and kisses from their beloved grandchild, nephew, or niece.
Weep
For the colleges and universities that are deprived of the possibility of teaching these children who might have become great leaders, innovators, Congressmen, Senators, innovators, doctors, lawyers, judges, clergy, good parents, or just all-around American citizens.
Weep
Because it seems this is all we seem capable of doing. But is it? Is this all we can do, or is it all we want to do?