You know you can do both right, have thoughts and prayers and also take action? Anyways on the topic of mass shootings, though, I’ve thought a lot about media coverage and blind spots, but I moved to Baltimore not too long ago, and I’m an English teacher in an inner city environment, and we don’t have mass shootings. The kids don’t even fear mass shootings because gun violence is a daily reality for people in this city. Did thoughts and prayers stop the 4 homicides in the city last Saturday? No.

No, thoughts and prayers don’t stop mass shootings and gun violence. But the reality too is that people have been trying to curb gun violence in cities like Baltimore and Chicago for decades now. And the casualties and survivors of gun violence and its victims do require thoughts and prayers and companionship. That suffering is part of why there are so many churches in the most blighted parts of Baltimore, go on Google Maps and look.

Once a mass shooting leaves the news reel, how many people talk about the family and friends of those who died? Two Parkland kids have died by suicide since the shooting two years ago. Thoughts, prayers, are really important to the one’s who survived, especially when action seems to be at a standstill.