Holding Anguish Alongside Action Against White Nationalist Violence

We at Human Impact Partners are feeling the anguish, fear, and pulls of despair over the mass shootings in Gilroy, El Paso, and Dayton — all within a week. We, like a lot of you, are both numb and heartbroken. It’s hard to constantly face the volume of mass shootings we are collectively witnessing across the US.

We stand in solidarity, love, and strength with the families and communities who are directly affected by the violence of mass shootings and gun violence. We see your courage in the many examples of coming together in the face of these tragedies — from the overwhelming blood donations in El Paso, to the support for undocumented families looking for their loved ones, to the vigils and the marches.

We condemn the racist and divisive rhetoric that routinely stems from President Trump’s own mouth, actively attempting to proliferate exclusion and hatred as a way forward for the nation. We also denounce the manipulation of mental health as a root cause of mass shootings when it is, in fact, ideologies of hate that are spreading. Just as we must treat gun violence as a public health epidemic, we must root out white supremacy within ourselves and directly confront white nationalism.

We deserve to live in communities free of fear, and we believe it’s on all of us — especially those who work in privileged professionalized spaces, who are White, who have access to resources, etc. — to step into our collective power and demand it so.

Let’s take care of ourselves, and of each other, as we process these events from our individual perspectives of power and oppression. And let’s use our anguish alongside action to dismantle white supremacy, in whatever ways we can.

Here are some suggestions if you feel you can to take action:

• Learn more about white supremacy, ways to disrupt white nationalism, and the role White folks can play.
• Call your Senator at 202–224–3121 and urge them to pass gun control legislation, including but not limited to H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019.
• Use your public health voice: write an op-ed or letter to the editor (or Facebook post! Or Twitter thread!) on gun violence, the dangerous stigmatization of mental health as the primary cause of mass shootings, or the public health harms of racist and xenophobic rhetoric, policies, and budgets. (We can review your draft!)

In Solidarity,

Amber, Ana, Christine, Jonathan, Juan, Kourtney, Lili, Martha, Megan, Meredith, Nashira, Sari, Shannon, Sophie, Sukh