Here We Go Again

Front page of The New York Times today, a photo of a teenage girl embracing her younger brother, after a student opened fire at Chardon High School outside of Cleveland, Ohio. It's been nearly 13 years since Columbine and the senseless violence continues. Our schools continue to be unsafe. T.J. Lane, a sophomore at a nearby alternative high school for "troubled" students has been identified as the shooter. His lawyer said, "By all accounts, T.J. is a fairly quiet and good kid." According, to a student in the cafeteria of Chardon High, where the shootings took place, T. J. was targeting a specific group of students.

Mike Trivisonno, a local radio host, was on the air for seven hours yesterday taking calls from people in the community, discussing what factors might have contributed to the shootings. The usual topics came up: bullying, social media, gun laws, and parenting. Mr. Trivisonno said, " It could happen anywhere and does."

He's right, it's happened over 100 times since Columbine. Discussions like the one Mr. Trivisonno had on the radio are helpful, but until we take some action, and until we are will to change our behavior, mothers will keep losing their children, and the turmoil of adolescence will continue to be resolved with violence.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Peace,

Adina

12 Years later, Does Columbine still resonate for us?

12 Years ago today, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado,Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 12 students and a teacher before killing themselves. They wounded 24 others.

The Brady Campaign posted on Facebook an article about how Colorado newspapers did not run an article on their front pages about the anniversary.

Has Columbine lost its relevance?

I don't think so. There have been over 80 school shootings in high schools and universities in the U.S. since April 20, 1999. And just two weeks ago, 11 students were shot and killed in an elementary school in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 18 students were injured. America continues to export its violence to the rest of the world.

As long as there continues to be gun violence in schools, Columbine is relevant and its lessons must be remembered.

We need stronger gun laws.
We much close the gun show loophole in every state.
Parents need to take the time to talk to their children and to know what's going on in their lives.
We need to limit violent media.
We need to stop the senseless teasing and bullying that goes on in schools and on the internet.
Students must reach out to outsiders, include rather than exclude, and build kinder school communities.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the 13 victims. May you continue to heal and find joy.

To the 13 victims, wherever you are, I hope you have found the peace you deserve.

I, along with so many others, continue to work toward making a kinder, less violent world.


Cassie Bernall
Steven Curnow
Corey Depooter
Kelly Fleming
Matt Kechter
Daniel Mauser
Daniel Rohrbough
Rachel Scott
Isaiah Shoels
John Tomlin
Lauren Townsend
Kyle Velasquez
Dave Sanders

Honoring our Journeys

This past Sunday, I had the great privilege of being asked to speak at the 26th Annual New York Crime Victims' Candle Light Vigil. The theme of the day was Honoring our Journeys. It was sponsored by The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims and The Office of the New York State Attorney General. I have been attending meetings of The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims for the past few months. They asked me to do a reading of "The Solace Stone", a parable about an old Chinese grandfather, who each morning climbs to the top of a nearby hill and picks up a small stone, then he walks down the hill and drop the pebble on the other side of a stream near his home. One stone at a time he will move the hill that blocks out the sunlight.

Then, I was asked to tie in the theme of the story with my experiences interviewing members of the Columbine community in 1999-2000. I talked about what I saw on TV that day, how I was moved to go out to Colorado and interview people about the shootings, all the questions I had. I talked about how it was a hate crime. That the killers, Harris and Klebold, were bullied, and they then terrorized their classmates before killing them, called them names, etc. I talked about the fact that they were able to get their guns so easily from an 18 year old friend, who went to a gun show for them and from and another dealer, who was an acquaintance of their co-worker at a local pizza place. I talked about prevention. There have been over 80 school shootings in high schools and colleges since Columbine. Finally, I talked about prevention, about my work in the high schools talking with kids about bullying, cliques, violence in the media, the easy access to guns, how they can build a kinder community, reach out to outsiders, etc.

I read out the names of the 13 Columbine victims because after almost 12 years, they have been forgotten by the general public for the most part. We move onto other tragedies.

I closed with the following words:

How do we find the strength to keep moving another pebble each day? We find strength and inspiration in each other. We work together. We have faith and we persevere. We come together on days like today to remember and honor our lost loved ones and our journeys towards healing. Each of you is an inspiration and a source of light. It's an honor to be with you today. I wish you all the best on your journey.

In addition to myself, there were many other speakers, including the District Attorney of New York and a number of survivors, who had either lost a loved one or had been victims of crimes themselves. There was a wonderful choir that sang inspirational songs like, "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "We Shall Overcome".

I was sitting in the front row next to the commissioner of the NYC Department of Corrections, and I looked up and there was Theresa Sareo speaking to the crowd. She told her story of being struck by a drunk driver on a corner in Manhattan, resulting in her right leg being severed from the hip down. She now has a metal prosthetic leg. As she told her story and how she was helped by victims services counselors, she stood there looking beautiful and strong. She began to sing "Hallelujah" with a gorgeous, soulful voice and tears ran down my cheeks. I think it was the fact that she didn't seem to have an ounce of self pity. She is a courageous survivor.

Another inspirational speaker was Nicola Briggs. When a man on the #4 subway train exposed himself and rubbed up against her, she confronted him, and with the help of other passengers and the conductor, she made sure he was immediately arrested once the train stopped. Someone videotaped this incident, and it became a YouTube sensation. Nicola has become a role model for young women to stand up and speak out if they are being violated.

The program concluded with the lighting of candles to remember the lives of lost loved ones. This ceremony was led by Vilma Torres, director of Safe Horizon, a wonderful organization that provides support and advocacy for victims of crime and abuse. Vilma was on the post show discussion panel for the 2007 Midtown International Theatre Festival production of "A Line in the Sand". After the candles were lit, members of the audience were invited to say the name of the person they lost aloud. It was very moving.

After the program finished, there was an information fair, and I got to hand out my promotional packets and speak with people about my play. I met some educators who seemed quite interested in it. At the very end of the day, Vida Toppin, an elderly woman who's son was mudered, came over to say hello to me and give me a hug. She was another speaker on my 2007 MITF discussion panel. It was wonderful to see her and her lovely, big smile again.

All in all, it was an incredible day of inspiration and courage. Thank you to everyone at The Downstate Coalition for Crime Victims for including me: especially Susan, Vilma, Donna, and Beverly. You all did an amazing job!

The United Solo Festival

I performed A LINE IN THE SAND at The United Solo Theatre Festival on November 16th. It was exciting to do the show at Theatre Row on 42nd Street, just a few blocks from all the Broadway theaters. I performed in the Studio Theatre, 65 seats. We had a good house. A couple of educators came. Several friends who'd seen it before came back to see it again. My long time acting teacher, Suzanne Shepherd, also came to see it. During the post show discussion, she congratulated me for my commitment to such an important topic, and she said that the play shows that our society is poison.

My friend, Edie Smith, former president of the the NYC branch of the Million Moms' March, co-lead the discussion with me. We discussed with the audience the degree of progress we've made with gun control laws since Columbine. It hasn't been much. We also discussed bullying in high schools.

A special treat was seeing my set designer, Lea Umberger. She was in town, and she came in during the tech rehearsal to help us with a few changes to the power point presentation.

All in all it was a very good experience. I felt very focused up on the stage. My acting is deepening with the years.

Columbine: 11 years later

Well, it's not a major decade marker like last year, but to the family and friends of the 13 victims every anniversary of this horrible tragedy is painful and significant. My thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Let us remember the victims:

Cassie Bernall
Steven Curnow
Corey Depooter
Kelly Fleming
Matt Kechter
Daniel Mauser
Daniel Rohrbough
Coach Dave Sanders
Rachel Scott
Isaiah Shoels
John Tomlin
Lauren Townsend
Kyle Velasquez

Let us also remember the 23 injured students and those that made it out of the library and alive and their families.

Especially the ones that I interviewed:

Richard Castaldo and his mother, Connie Michalik
Sean Graves and his mother, Natalie
Lance Kirklin and his father, Mike
Crystal Woodman and her mother, Cindy
Lindsay Elmore

3rd Anniversary of Virginia Tech shootings

Today, for the 3rd year in a row. I went to the Lie-in in Times Square to protest the easy availability of guns, and to honor the victims of the Virginia Tech shootings.

32 of us wore black and sashes with the orange and maroon colors of Virginia Tech. We each read a name of one of the 32 victims and then lay down on the ground. I held a strip of white paper and read, "Lauren McCain, age 20, a freshman in International Studies from Hampton, Virginia." Then, I lay down on top of two garbage bags, sandwiched in between two other protesters. I looked up and the cloudy sky and the huge building above me, and then I closed my eyes to appear dead. The names continued to be read, until all 32 were completed and everyone was on the ground. We lay there in silence for 3 minutes, which is as long as it takes for a person to purchase a gun without a proper background check.

Lauren McCain was also planning on majoring in German. She mentioned two heroes on her MySpace page: Jesus Christ and her brother, Joel. She loved all music, except Country. She liked Sci-Fi movies. Her friend, Matt Croushorn, said, "She was a really nice person. She was smart. She was fun to talk to."

Several people spoke about the urgent need to create laws to stop the easy access to guns. Megan Meadows spoke first. She spoke eloquently about her friend, Reema Samaha, one of the 32 victims at Virginia Tech. Next up was Jackie Hilly, Executive Director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence. She spoke about the need for passing legislation to require background checks on gun sales at gun shows, and she mentioned that her organization is pressing New York State to pass “microstamping” legislation that would help police in effectively tracing guns recovered in crimes. Then, NY City public advocate, Bill Belasio, spoke, echoing the need for tougher gun laws. And finally Michelle Schimel, member of the State Assembly from Long Island and sponsor of the microstamping bill, spoke passionately to the crowd, pleading for support to get the bill through.

Performing in Colorado at last

I am in Boulder! After 10 years of working on "A Line in the Sand", I finally have an opportunity to perform the play for a Colorado audience. Boulder is just 45 minutes away from Columbine High School, in Littleton. I was invited to perform here as part of The Moondance International Film Festival in Boulder. This is the 10th year of the festival and the 10th anniversary year of Columbine. I have won the award for Best Stageplay, and the wonderful founder and director of the festival, Elizabeth English, invited to me to perform "A Line in the Sand" at the festival.

I have been attending networking parties and screenings, doing last minute publicity for the show, calling the families of the victims to invite them, putting together my discussion panel, trying to fit in some hiking. IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL HERE. It rained the first two days, but now it's blue, blue skies and Rocky Mountain peaks. I am staying at the base of the Flatiron mountain in Chautauqua Park. My cottage was built in 1915. There are pictures of the cottages from those days on the wall in my living room. They look like canvas tents. There's another picture of an old trolley car that used to take people around the park. Amazing history here. I met the local historian and groundskeeper, Steve. I have some video of him talking about the park. For the past 20 years, he has been in charge of renovating the cottages. The look old on the outside, but inside they have modern renovations, very charming.

It has been a bit daunting trying to get the people that I interviewed 10 years ago to come see the play. Some of the parents of the victims said they don't want to "go back there," which I completely understand. After 10 years, they want to move on and have some peace. Others are driven to try to prevent this kind of horrific loss from happening to other families. Tom Mauser, the father of Daniel Mauser, one of the 13 victims, has devoted the last 10 years to working for gun control. Please see my blog entry on Daniel to learn more about Tom's work, or go to www.danielmauser.com

Tom has agreed to speak on my post show discussion panel tomorrow after the performance. Connie Michalik, mother of injured Columbine student, Richard Castaldo, will also be speaking. Both Connie and Richard appeared in Michael Moore's film, "Bowling for Columbine." In the film, they go to the Denver Kmart store with Michael Moore to ask them to stop selling bullets, and because of their efforts, Kmart doesn't sell bullets anymore.

Connie was so kind to me when I came to interview her and Richard at their home in 1999. Richard was shot outside of Columbine, along with Rachel Scott, who was killed. They were eating lunch together. Richard was paralyzed from the waist down. He was in good spirits when I spoke to him and his girlfriend at the time. After the interview, Connie invited me to go with her to Columbine High School. Richard had to attend a practice session with the marching band. Later, Connie and I talked some more at the local IHOP.

When we spoke on the phone last week, she told me that Richard is doing great. He is trying to get into sound engineering out in California. He is still paralyzed, but Connie said they are hoping that progress in stem cell research will eventually help him to walk again.

Off to hike and rehearse.

more soon with video and photos....