Civic and Community Engagement Commons^™

My Mother's Body, Anika N. Jensen

SURGE

On Friday, April 20, 2018, Gettysburg College students organized a campus-wide walkout to protest all forms of gun violence as part of Gettysburg College’s first annual Peace and Justice Week. Over the next several days, SURGE published the poems and personal testimonies of the student speakers who participated in the event.

Begin in sukhasa–easy pose–with your legs crossed the way children used to sit during show and tell before they had to worry about what position gives them enough time to stand and scramble toward the door when the shooting starts. [excerpt]

The Bravest Woman I Know, Alexa Laboy

SURGE

On Friday, April 20, 2018, Gettysburg College students organized a campus-wide walkout to protest all forms of gun violence as part of Gettysburg College’s first annual Peace and Justice Week. Over the next several days, SURGE published the poems and personal testimonies of the student speakers who participated in the event.

Just imagine witnessing your best friend’s boyfriend beating her, beating their children.

What would you do?

My sister is the bravest woman I know. She came in between the blows to her best friend’s face and his fists. My sister is scared of nothing and of no one, which …

I Have Not Lost Someone To Gun Violence, Mattelyn R. Wadley

SURGE

On Friday, April 20, 2018, Gettysburg College students organized a campus-wide walkout to protest all forms of gun violence as part of Gettysburg College’s first annual Peace and Justice Week. Over the next several days, SURGE published the poems and personal testimonies of the student speakers who participated in the event.

I have not lost someone to gun violence, but

When I hear the word gun…

I still picture children’s bodies lying lifeless on the floor of a blue-carpeted classroom [excerpt]

Gettysburg Against Gun Violence, Chentese Stewart

SURGE

On April 4th, the 50th Anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Saheed Vassell, a 34 year old black man, was shot nine times and killed in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY. Plain clothes police officers responded to several calls complaining of a man walking through the streets pointing gun at people. They later found out that Saheed was unarmed, and the object in his hand was merely a showerhead.

Saheed had a history of mental illness, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years prior. He was well known by longtime residents of the neighborhood who described him …

Why I Am Against Guns, Anonymous

SURGE

I am a suicide attempt survivor. And I am for increased gun control reform. And the reason why this is my position is because I know, if my parents had owned a gun, there is an 85% chance you wouldn’t be here reading my story. [excerpt]

Bang, Lexus P. Davis

SURGE

I am afraid
Your black skin. My skin. Our skin is one skin.
A skin that say Bullseye.
Shoot.
I am innocent.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
I am waiting for someone to notice that we are dead.

[excerpt]