Today is not Wordless, but it is full of history. It's a history everyone in our area wishes had never happened.
It's been 15 years. It's so hard to believe.
On April 3rd of each year, I break from my theme of the year for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge to commemorate those murdered in the mass shooting at the American Civic Association in Binghamton, New York.
On April 3, 2009, a troubled 41 year old immigrant walked into a building housing the American Civic Association on the edge of downtown Binghamton, New York. He shot the receptionist (she survived) and entered an adult classroom for immigrants. Seconds later, 14 people, including the shooter (by suicide), were dead.
What follows are some of the memorials.
Let us remember our community members (except for the shooter, whose name I will not mention):
Most of the victims were, themselves, immigrants. They came from China, from Ukraine, from Haiti, from Vietnam, from all over the world, to seek a better life. This evening, there will be a memorial service to remember them: Parveen Ali, Almir Olimpio Alves, Marc Henry Bernard, Marie Sonia Bernard, Li Guo, Lan Ho, Layla Khalil, Roberta "Bobbie" Badaines King, Jiang Ling, Mao Hong Xiu, Dolores "Dinah" Cabonilas Yigal, Haihong Zhong and Maria "Mima" Zobniw.
A small park a few blocks from the ACA contains memorials to the 13.
One of the sadder parts of our community's trauma isn't what happened on April 3, 2009, but rather on May 14, 2022, when a member of our community committed a mass shooting at a Tops supermarket in Buffalo, New York. The 18 year old shooter, a white supremacist, killed 10 people there because he hated the color of their skin. He pled guilty in November of 2022 and was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.
The 2009 shooting led to me starting
to blog. This post of April 10, 2009 was the first blog post I wrote. It was based on an email I wrote.
Some previous posts honoring those who died on that day:
A Community Heals
Crocus of Commemoration
Commemoration
Mrs. King's Dolls
I will keep remembering this day here as long as I continue to blog.
"C" day of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme: Gardens, History, Art and The Unexpected.
This is so sad
ReplyDelete...gun violence will always be a part of American life.
ReplyDeleteAnd things have only gotten worse in the intervening years. May their memory remain for a blessing.
ReplyDeleteSo sad, and we see more, not less, now than then. We (America) don't learn, and refuse to make changes. Or provide appropriate resources for the "troubled."
ReplyDeleteThat's so sad, but what a wonderful thing you do each year to remember those who were lost during this tragedy.
ReplyDeleteAnd sadly, it keeps happening. You'd think we'd've learned the lessons from this, but still nothing has been done to eliminate the thing that would highly curtail these tragedies.
ReplyDeleteSuch a terrible tragedy! May the victims rest in peace, and their memory be blessed!
ReplyDeleteSuch a heartbreaking post with a valuable lesson to teach. Thank you for this annual commemoration.
ReplyDeleteMass shootings in the US are often covered on UK news but I don't recall this one. Well done for keeping people aware of this.
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