The Massacred Children of Rio

I have been searching and struggling for a way to pay tribute to the massacred children of Rio. I am speechless, but I am not without thoughts or feelings. I am angry, confused, mesmerized, shocked, and saddened by this tragedy. Every image played and replayed on the news cuts me, but I can not keep my eyes off the screen. The sitcoms go on, as do the reality shows, at their scheduled times, as if nothing were happening-- I could distract myself there, but I can't. I won't.

Last year, I blogged about Columbine on its 11th anniversary. School shootings are something that deeply perplex me, and I have always been inclined to finding as much information as I can about them. I admit I thought they were not something that happened in Brazil. I am guilty of having once said to a fellow American, "Brazilians kill because they're starving or fighting for their rights, Americans massacre each other out of boredom." I confess to believing it was an illness that manifested in neglected American suburban teenagers, victims of bullying and misunderstandings. This wasn't supposed to be a Brazilian problem. Like a friend posted on facebook, "WTF, this shit doesn't happen in Brazil." We have enough problems. Our children carry guns, yes, but because they are raised in utter poverty and know no other way to survive. This desire, this need, to kill fellow classmates for no apparent reason just did not happen here.

I now stand not only corrected, but ashamed.

A scene plays over and over again in my head; a mother being told her child has just been shot several times. She falls into despair at first, but then she looks up at the sky and is relieved. She is certain that God would not do that to her. She will have to identify the body, and she is still certain that God protected her little girl. She is even more certain when she sees the body. Those bloody clothes are not her. Those bones are not my child. Whenever reality settles in for this mother, if it ever does, I pray she finds the strength she needs to survive it.

For those children who lost their lives yesterday, I am saddened and I give them my prayers and the guarantee that they shall be remembered. For the children who were injured and scarred by the event, I honor them as survivors and hope that they are given the care they need at this time. And for the parents and families of the children who died yesterday, I send them all the love and strength I have.

To the children of the Rio school shooting of April 7th, 2011, you are remembered and honored.




Image from here.