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League of Women Voters of Boulder County
Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy
Serving the People of Boulder County, Colorado
Date: 3/23/2021
Subject: Updated - Statement to LWVBC Members regarding the Boulder Mass Shooting
From: Jennifer L Bales



Statement to LWVBC Members regarding the Boulder Mass Shooting
 
We, this people, on this small and drifting planet
Whose hands can strike with such abandon
That, in a twinkling, life is sapped from the living
Yet those same hands can touch with such healing,
irresistible tenderness,
That the haughty neck is happy to bow
And the proud back is glad to bend
Out of such chaos, of such contradiction
We learn that we are neither devils nor divines...

When we come to it
We must confess that we are the possible
We are the miraculous, we are the true wonder of this world....

-- Maya Angelou, from A Brave and Startling Truth



Dear LWVBC Members,

Our community is in pain. We are heartbroken, angry and scared. We are hushed and reflective, and we are defiant and ready to act.  As the details continue to emerge from yesterday's tragic mass shooting in Boulder, I'm experiencing all of these emotions. I imagine you are, too. On behalf of the LWVBC Board, we share our warm appreciation to our first responders. We also share our deepest condolences to family members and friends of those who were killed, and who are experiencing deep trauma from what they experienced and observed yesterday.

Today, LWVBC will be working with our partners at the state and national League levels to issue a formal statement about the tragedy in Boulder and its connection to gun safety policy. We will not speculate about unknown details. We will, however, reflect the need for compassion, love and resilience, and reassert our commitment to action for systemic solutions to gun violence, including for people who experience this threat on a daily basis.

Please stay tuned for more information soon, about League actions for gun safety policy. And today, let's show irresistible tenderness to each other in the face of violence. Let's reach out to mourn, encourage and support each other as members of this organization and members of this amazing community. We can be the change -- the miraculous change -- we want to see in our community and our world.

With love and support,
Elizabeth Crowe, President
LWV of Boulder County