TRUTH, TRAUMA, TOGETHER
I wanted to talk about mass shootings and how they affect us after the fact. This was inspired by the Brooklyn Subway shooting. Seeing this happen somewhere close to me and somewhere I have been before triggered me a little bit. This was because I faced a similar situation when I was a freshman at NJCU. A block away there was a mass shooting where somebody walked out of their U-Haul van and fired at civilians and ended up killing 5 innocent people at the corner store as well. On December 10, 2019, a shooting occurred in the Greenville district of Jersey City, New Jersey, at a Jewish grocery store. Just before the grocery store attack, the terrorists shot and killed a Jersey City Police Department detective at a nearby cemetery. Anderson, who had ties to extreme groups, has a history of posting antisemitic and anti-law enforcement remarks on social media. According to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, the attacks were acts of hatred and domestic terrorism motivated by antisemitism and anti-police prejudice. More than 2,300 people have been killed in mass shootings with firearms in the United States over the last four decades. According to research, mass shootings have a major negative impact on the victims and their families. However, little is known about the extent to which these catastrophes' effects are transferred throughout communities where they occur, or how they affect people other than those who are immediately affected. During the shooting, I was sort of in shock for most of the time. My phone kept ringing and my mom called me every few minutes. I know it must’ve been scary for her. My dad is a teacher at County Prep High School and he was near the shooting as well. So I was concerned for my own safety and my fathers. It was truly traumatizing. “ For husbands, family, friends and nurses to participate in the experience. “ This quote had me thinking that something so simple as a corner store where anyone can walk in, had been ruined by a terrorists. I bet multiple people like dads or hospital workers have walked in there before and were satisfied. But it was ruined all by one person. Truly Devastating.
This shooting happened around 2:30 that day and I had just gotten out of class. A student in my class stopped our professor and asked about her paper. None of them in that moment knew that, that possibly saved his life. He then wrote us a letter the next day, talking about what happened.
“ Dear Students,
I hope you are doing well and are safe after yesterday's shooting and lock down. I was just leaving campus when the shootings started. I normally drive directly through the intersection of Bayview/MLK on my way to and from work. Yesterday, I went to my office to look for a paper. I never usually go to my office after class. After not finding the paper, I left campus and heard some sounds in the distance. Thought little of it. Fireworks, maybe. As I drove up Audubon, the sounds grew louder. When I hit JFK, two patrol cars did a drift-like screeching halt in front of me, fast and furious style. The cop jumped out and directed me up JFK north. As I was driving, I could hear the pops in the background. More cop cars came flying down JFK headed back toward NJCU and Bayview. Scary shit. When I got home, the news unfolded and more shots were fired. I was told you guys were on lock-down. I knew from watching the news that you were safe, but I was still concerned. It was a scary day and I am still in a state of shock. The news now is that this may have been a targeted Anti-semitic attack. The evidence is pointing in that direction, but this is all still fresh. I know we have had discussions about the Hasidic community in JC and I know that for many of you, I am one of the few Jews that you may know or interact with (albeit I am not Hasidic). Like many of you, the people of my faith are minorities, often misunderstood and targeted for false stereotypes and myths. So, as you can imagine, this whole experience hits close to home. Too close. We all need to understand and learn from one another, highlighting our differences as unique qualities, not barriers or walls.
I want to thank Jose for reaching out and showing his concern and for letting me know that you (my students) were ok. I also want to thank Daysi. I went back to my office to look for her paper. If I would have left campus ten minutes earlier, who knows what might have transpired. My beard is thick; my looks quite semitic. If I was driving through that intersection at 12:30 on my way home, who knows what could have happened? Who knows if I would have been targeted? So thank you Daysi, you may have saved my life. And I will try to find that paper for you.
Good luck with your finals! Let me know if you have questions! Embrace your differences, don't hate 'em! “
I remember this day like it was yesterday. We heard shots outside, but couldn’t really tell what they were. I thought it was people moving desks around downstairs or something like that. 10 minutes later a bunch of the staff comes into the dining hall and takes us into their classroom. Where a teacher held us for a few hours. I remember looking at the computer screens in the room saying “ There is a lockdown. Please stay away from the windows. “ My first instinct was to have an escape plan. I asked the teacher if the windows were glass and she replied yes. My thought process was that if the shooter were to get in here, I would rush full sprint and break the window and fall one story down and run like hell. Luckily it never got to that point. My thought process was the shooter had no problem killing innocent people so I had to do what I had to survive. The people in the room with me had to go home eventually, we knew it was going to be very difficult to get home after it was over. We had to plan how to leave. People were coming in and out of the building telling us the roads were closed by the police. I did not get home that day until 1am. It was truly insane. A grand jury decided in November 2020 that the actions of the 12 Jersey City officers and one Newark police detective who shot Anderson and Graham were justified and that no charges against them were warranted and rightfully so. “ At around 5PM the lockdowns were lifted and families could be reunited, though many in the area couldn’t go home because of the investigation. This was a terrifying moment in our history, and we can only hope that something like this doesn’t happen again. I urge everyone in the area to be safe and vigilant. Jersey City’s strength lies in the diversity of its citizens. Hate crimes that seek to harm and divide have no place here.“ This was said by the gothic times journal. A newspaper for NJCU.“ I couldn’t describe it any better. “ These units demonstrate interest in political intervention.” This quote goes well with this article because people like us do not wake up everyday to give everyone a heads up on what is going on in the world. But we must shed light on how politics drives people into doing horrible things often.
I decided to interview my mom about that day a few years later.
Me : Where were you when you heard that there was a shooting near my school?
Mom: I was at lunch when your father texted me that there was a shooting near my school. I had ran to my principal for help because he knew I was in a frantic state at the time. And I was never nervous.
Me : What were those hours like knowing you had no way of being near us why it was happening?
Mom : It was very difficult. I cried for many hours in complete shock at the situation. I was scared for both of you guys. I couldn’t imagine losing any of you.
Me: Looking back on it a few years later, how do you feel about what happened that day?
Mom : Goes to show you how much people hate other people for no reason. There is no reason to hate anyone. You can dislike someone but there always needs to be a level of respect towards others.
Me: What was it like when we all got home that night?
Mom: You remember I couldn’t stop crying. It was like this huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I could not even process what was going on. It was crazy.
Me: Any closing thoughts on the matter ?
Mom: Yes, I would like to say thank you to the teacher that took you and your friends into the room to watch them during that time. As a teacher myself I would have done the same.
According to a new survey on stress and mass shootings conducted by the American Psychological Association, a large majority of adults in the United States are stressed by mass shootings, and a third of Americans say their fear of mass shootings prevents them from attending certain places and events. It goes to show you that people are scared to go to places with a large amount of people. Now things like this are happening in corner stores but even schools as well. No one should be scared of going to a store or to schools. This is the sad reality of the situation. “ A readily available situation with readily available materials elicited immediate speculation as to the future of the city. “ This quote stood out for me because it spoke directly to the event that occurred. The materials that were used to attack, spoke to the future of the city as a whole. We gre a lot since then so now it is time to keep growing
In conclusion,
I would like to talk about the state of the city since then. The day after there was this big funeral planned for the two officers that passed that many people from the city went to. It was heartbreaking what I have been through as a city. This is the first time we have seen national coverage on it though. I went to high school at County Prep in Jersey City. The sad truth is that around every 3 months or so we had a shooting near our school and we had to go home or even get our bags checked by national guards for a few weeks at a time. This was normal for the city for this is an intervention for things to get better. For our city to get better and be better. We see shootings everyday happen in our city and it doesn't stop. I have had friends die, and I have seen friends of friends die. This is not new. This is old news. We gotta do better and protect ourselves and the ones around us. Let's all Please be Better. I would like to send you off with a quote. “ Provides more than thought-provoking entertainment and exploration, it presents opportunity.” 2 years since we have been able to accomplish a lot as a city. The crime rate is down. St Peters made national news in their March Madness run. We have come a long way since then. And the opportunity for more is Now!
Written Post :
My project is on the effects of Mass Shootings. I decided I wanted to do this because I thought it was time that someone talked about this. This is an uncomfortable conversation that we must have as a community. These mass shootings do not stop and I think that it is time for a change. I decided the best way to do that was by reaching out to millions by the help of Quora. This is a service that allows me to reach others about really anything. And mass shootings was what I decided to do. My message to the audience was to be better than what we were doing. We have to stop it anyway we can. When it comes to calling 911 and being a first responder or protecting others when there is a threat. This project helps my career aspirations because it is a part of me. Jersey City is my home and I have to do what's best to protect my home.
This mural by Urban Expressionist inspired me in a multitude of ways. The mural is about a group of kids that were killed by a mass shooting. It does not show what they look like which represents the fact they aren’t here any more. Just like the people who died from the Jersey City shooting.
There is no artist that says who made this. But The unity in this picture says it all. This is from the Orlando shooting at Pulse NightClub. Where 50 people died for being inside a gay club. Truly terrorizing. This is what this project is all about. You can’t walk into a club without the fear of dying now?
A pretty graphic painting by Dottie Riley. By May 31, 2019, there had been 148 mass shootings, with 149 people dead and 585 injured. One of the mass shootings occurred in a church, while the other two occurred in schools. This artwork honors the hundreds of men, women, and children who died as a result of a faulty interpretation of the Second Amendment and our right to bear arms. In the absence of substantial gun regulation, perhaps we might set aside a day to remember these victims.
This is pushing the lines of Art and getting political. We see this animated painting by Clay Jones, who is trying to show us how the government is allowing these mass shootings to happen by allowing states to have guns on them all the time. This is why we see a bigger amount of people in the south involved in these shootings.
The 5 resources I used were
Mr. Reiter’s letter
Gothic Times Perspective https://gothictimes.net/9997/opinion-editorial/shooting-in-jersey-city-leaves-6-dead-and-the-city-in-fear/
My Mom’s Interview
American Psychological Association’s Study on Mass Shootings
https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/08/fear-mass-shooting
My Story
Quinn, S. (n.d.). Shooting in Jersey City leaves 6 dead and the city in Fear. The Gothic Times. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://gothictimes.net/9997/opinion-editorial/shooting-in-jersey-city-leaves-6-dead-and-the-city-in-fear/
American Psychological Association. (n.d.). One-third of us adults say fear of mass shootings prevents them from going to certain places or events. American Psychological Association. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2019/08/fear-mass-shooting
No comments:
Post a Comment