We bow our heads in a moment of silence,
Bowed to remember those murdered,
Bowed to reflect on the human carnage, the horror, the unspeakable terror
Sandy Hook: moment of silence
Emanuel AME: moment of silence
Aurora, Virginia Tech, the Sikh Temple, San Bernardino: a moment of silence
We demand silence when what’s needed is loudness.
Loudness over the oppression, the learned aversion of the eyes, the easy rationalization, the racism, the misogyny, the white supremacy, the Islamophobia, the homophobia, the amalgam of ancient prejudices cleverly concealed for prime time consumption between commercial breaks.
A moment of silence? Silence amidst the deafening sounds of shotgun shells, handgun blasts, shrieking parents, and broken lives.
Silence accumulating like mold within the expanding shadow of propaganda, warlords, acceptable gangsterism, and scatterings of war paraphernalia.
Out of respect we solemnly bow our heads in a moment of silence.
But does this silence inspire memory or feed our forgetfulness?
49 dead, 53 wounded.
A familiar tragedy with new characters.
And now the shadow has expanded to the Sunshine State™.
How will we respond?
Another moment of silence?
Xavier's Blog 