February 21, 2018

Gut-Wrenching Parkland Memorials Are Showing Up All Over the Country

Florida’s latest tragedy is resounding from coast to coast.

A woman lays flowers at a student memorial outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Orit Ben-Ezzer via ZUMA Wire

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

After the slaughter in Parkland, Florida, last week, an enormous memorial was set up outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High to mourn the 17 people killed at the school. But as survivors began speaking out—planning a series of demonstrations next month and a national walkout in April—sympathetic mourners around the nation have created makeshift memorials of their own.

In a 1997 paper, Texas professor C. Allen Haney called spontaneous memorials an “emerging American mourning ritual,” a way to mark a place as sacred. Yet that ritual is evolving as memorials are erected in solidarity. We saw it when people commemorated 9/11, the 2015 Paris attacks, and the attacks on Brussels in 2016. Here, now, are some of the far-flung places where people have stepped up to commemorate the victims of Florida’s latest mass shooting.

San Francisco

https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/966072659669733376

Emerald Isle, North Carolina

Orlando, Florida

North Montgomery, Indiana

https://twitter.com/NMHS_FACS/status/965985256078798848

Bettendorf, Iowa

New York City

One of the student victims, 14-year-old Jaime Guttenberg, was a “passionate dancer” who loved the color orange, as Broward County’s Sun-Sentinel reports. To honor her life, dancers across the country—in professional companies, at competitions, and in class—wore orange ribbons while they performed.

Menifee, California

Adrian, Michigan

Upper Montclair, New Jersey

DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

DECEMBER IS MAKE OR BREAK

A full one-third of our annual fundraising comes in this month alone. That’s risky, because a strong December means our newsroom is on the beat and reporting at full strength—but a weak one means budget cuts and hard choices ahead.

The December 31 deadline is closing in fast. To reach our $400,000 goal, we need readers who’ve never given before to join the ranks of MoJo donors. And we need our steadfast supporters to give again—any amount today.

Managing an independent, nonprofit newsroom is staggeringly hard. There’s no cushion in our budget—no backup revenue, no corporate safety net. We can’t afford to fall short, and we can’t rely on corporations or deep-pocketed interests to fund the fierce, investigative journalism Mother Jones exists to do.

That’s why we need you right now. Please chip in to help close the gap.

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate