Me and My Gun

After growing up in the shadow of the Columbine tragedy and living through/being a part of communities affected by mass shooting events as students and educators, we continue to see our neighbours and our country choose guns over people. Our politic here expands beyond party line definitions and policy. We seek to examine the root of our American love affair with violence. Who is truly protected when we continue to choose guns over people? In arguments that suggest gun violence is solely a mental health issue and not a systemic one, what happens when we address how men (and specifically Black men) are underserved and overlooked in mental health crises? Our ultimate aim is to create avenues for larger conversation and engagement around the intersections of gun violence and mental health. We particularly want to examine where we all fall short, no matter our political background, when we continue to forget the real people behind the issues we are fighting for.