What is the difference between
“Never Forget” and
“This Won’t Happen Again”
Terrorist (noun);
a person who uses unlawful violence
and intimidation
(especially against civilians)
in the pursuit of political claims
Domestic Terrorist (noun);
also known as homegrown
because somewhere at some point
someone learned that
this is the way you express your opinions
Lone Wolf (adj);
.
.
.
this is not always terrorism
but is this always an accident?
April 15th, 2013 [1]
26 years old; two perpetrators
foreign ideologies
3 dead
264 injured
newly American
more were killed
in an attempt to find them
August 3rd, 2019 [2]
21 years old
foreign ideologies
22 dead
24 injured
the mayor begged the citizens
to rally around those in need
and promised that things would change
October 1st, 2017 [3]
64 years old
no known motivation
59 dead
413-864 injured
the deadliest mass shooting
by a single shooter
in United States history
December 2nd 2015 [4]
28/29 years old; two perpetrators
foreign ideologies
16 dead
24 injured
a bomb failed to go off
there could have been more
June 12th 2016 [5]
29 years
foreign ideologies; personal motivation
50 dead
53 injured
was the deadliest mass shooting
by a single shooter
in United States history
still the deadliest in the LGBT community
June 17th 2015 [6]
25 years old
far right extremism; white supremacy
9 dead
1 injured
when is a motivation considered
political
and when it is considered
personal
what is the difference?
a terrorist is deemed easy to find
we know who to fear – but is that fair
when our own citizens
and neighbors
are modelling their
own violent actions
off of one another
at what point
did actions – in the name of
of an organized hate group –
become a debate
about whether or not
multiple people subscribe to the concept
or if someone is working on their own
is it political or personal?
our people are dying
we need help
Never Forget –
new safety precautions
are taken around the world
new security measures…
we need to be protected
the news warns us of this
of who and how and why it happens
what to look for
when to worry
who to call
It Won’t Happen Again
how could someone turn against
their own people
instilling fear around every turn
tearing holes in communities
time and time again
what do we look for
how did we let this happen
we will do whatever we can
to prevent this again
or so we say
We desperately need a way
to make the public aware
of what is going on
why they are experiencing this
time and time and time again
but a single word
seems to be counter-effective
Remember the time
you said the same word
15 times in a row
and it no longer even
sounded like a word
What if we are
simultaneously
over and under-using
the only terms
that could bring a sense of security
to the people of our nation
the ones that could
call to action
a change
This is no longer a matter
of picking a term
and slapping it on
just anything
or trying to figure out
what one aspect is important
rather than looking at the whole picture
there is a critical need
to redefine or re-create
the terms we need
to re-instill the security
we all so desperately crave
terrorism
international terrorism
domestic terrorism
homegrown terrorism
lone wolf terrorism
self-radicalized terrorism
lone wolf violence
mass violence
The American Nightmare
is a reality –
is our reality
that we can’t seem to escape
no matter how hard we try
but there are still
things we can learn
things we can do
things we can fix
[All bracketed numbers have information on the Documented Events and Resources page, and are numbered accordingly]
Contemporary American Dreams & Nightmares 