What Should We Do About Gun Violence?

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Something new I learned this week: the ten stages of genocide. Thanks to a video on TikTok, – yes, the app the United States is trying to ban – I understood that the transgender community is currently undergoing the seventh (or sixth in some cases) stage of genocide. This stage is labeled under “Preparation”, where usually mass killing/attack is planned, victims are being identified and isolated or excluded because of particular identity characteristics. Euphemisms are also used to cover up their true intentions and introduce fear in the public associated with the characteristics. The next stage is “Persecution”. 

Last Wednesday, the Florida House of Representatives passed an anti-trans bill, which would ban gender-affirming care for minors and force them to detransition, or to halt their medical treatments. The bill used wide terminology that included not only transgender individuals, but others who had undergone procedures that altered internal or external physical traits. Euphemisms used were to “protect children”. Transgender rights are suffering from Florida all the way to Oklahoma, from bathroom bills, religious liberty bills, updating ID cards and documents, and more. 

Nashville’s school shooter from the Nashville Covenant School mass shooting on Monday was identified as a transgender person. Now, I mention this fact because this characteristic has become a reason for many media outlets to target the transgender community and grow public fear. Is stage seven becoming more noticeable? Fox News host Tucker Carlson stated that the “trans movement is targeting Christians” on Tuesday night – another euphemism. They have involved children, health care, and religion. What’s next? In this situation, the focus is far removed from the real issues at hand: gun violence. 

VOXMEDIA –

“No other high-income country has suffered such a high death toll from gun violence. Every day, 120 Americans die at the end of a gun, including suicides and homicides, an average of 43,475 per year. Since 2009, there has been an annual average of 19 shootings in which at least four people are killed. The US gun homicide rate is as much as 26 times that of other high-income countries; its gun suicide rate is nearly 12 times higher.”

In 2023, there have been 89 school gun-related incidents at a school so far. This means that there have been 74 people killed or injured, 18 who were shot and 56 who were injured in the span of three months in 2023. At the end of the day, it doesn’t come down to what party you belong to. It’s about the protection of the American population who no longer feels safe in schools, churches, places of worship, and other public spaces. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stood for legislation banning assault weapons, while republican Rep.Tim Burchett considered “Criminals are going to be criminals” and that the approach should be to “change people’s hearts.” 

What do you think? Let us know at newprensa@newpublica.com or on instagram @newprensa.  

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Good morning! Helene here. I saw that Levi’s will begin using AI generated models to allow consumers to see clothing on a body that looks like theirs. Why not hire more models with diverse body types? It’s hard to say! It’s not an impossible task– brands like Fenty come to mind as doing great work representing all types of bodies. It is worth weighing the benefits of doing something like this. The AI models would allow consumers to see all clothing represented on a body like theirs. Even clothing brands with diverse clothes models often don’t show a particular item on more than one or two people, so the ability to see clothes on a body like yours would be a great change. We’ll just have to wait and see how it resonates with consumers when Levi’s tests out the program. 

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Now, readers, I’d like to revisit East Phillips Urban Garden initiative and the Roof Depot. You may remember that East Phillips residents and activists led a peaceful occupation of the site and influenced the city to push back the original demolition date of February 27th. Now, there’s legislation in motion to receive state funding to buy the site from the City, but it needs community support. And another interesting piece of information for you: a whistleblower with the City in 2021 released an alternative location for the Public Works Facility in Marcy-Holmes. At this alternative site, the city would not have to demolish the existing building, and creating a Public Works Facility at the alternative site would be cheaper for the city. Interesting! So, what’s happening next with this? East Phillips is working to get a bill that would secure funding for the urban farm heard by the House Capital Investments Committee. You can lend your voice to the cause by contacting your state representatives. The East Phillips Urban Farm organization put together a helpful document on who to contact and important talking points. You can find that here!

That’s it for this week, readers! Enjoy your Thursday. And remember, you can listen to our playlist, NewMusica, at any time during the week! 

-Isabella and Helene 

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