Groundwork family,

My heart, and the nation’s heart, is with Uvalde, Texas. There are no words for the tragedy this community has endured. There are no thoughts, no prayers, no promises or platitudes that can communicate how our hearts have broken alongside the families at Robb Elementary School.

I am a parent of two young children. I have a six-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son. As any parent will tell you, from the moment your child is born, you find yourself bargaining with God.

Let him be healthy, and I’ll never ask for anything again. Keep her safe, and we’ll be model human beings the rest of our lives. Ignore everything I’ve ever asked for. Nothing else matters. Just this. Just them.

Of course, you quickly learn that there are places your protection cannot reach. Bullies and broken hearts. Injustice and illness and unthinkable tragedy. So you offer your children a simple promise. Not that everything will always be ok, but that what hurts today will feel better tomorrow. What’s broken can be healed.

At its best, our country fortifies that promise for every American family, building a web of stability, security and decency so no parent or child is forced to go it alone.

But we are grappling with a country of shattered promises.

A country where elected leaders repeatedly choose inaction, refusing to protect the people and places we love most. A government that offers thoughts and prayers and the passage of time but no solutions.

As anyone who has dealt with sudden loss knows, it comes with a painful and powerful lesson: The deep understanding that our time is limited. That our days are not promised. So make it count.

In the memory of those we loved, those not given the blessing of time: We make it count.

That is our rally cry in the months ahead. In honor of the 21 gorgeous lives lost in Uvalde:

We will answer “thoughts and prayers” with footsteps.

We will show the Republican party this isn’t political: it’s personal.

We will make them talk about guns.

And when they say "nothing will change. Democrats don’t vote on this issue. The NRA is too powerful."

We will prove them wrong.

In their honor.
Joe Kennedy

–
Joe Kennedy (he/him)
Founder
Groundwork Project