By Kiki Halliday. Donations go to Everytown.
$25 donated so far
American Tragedy is a reflection on the escalating violence in America today. I started writing this song one day after seventeen people were gunned down at their school in Parkland, Florida. I thought about my grandmother’s flee from persecution in Nazi Germany and how she came to America to start a better life.
The song continued to take shape after the one year anniversary of the Las Vegas shooting, and then once again through the devastation at Borderline in Thousand Oaks, then a synagogue in Pittsburgh and San Diego. The story continued, piece by piece, tied by reports of violence and confusion.
The confusion about how mass shootings can keep happening without anything being done is what prompts our desperate cry for change. The rhetoric from the leadership of our country says that the root of the problem is with mental health, video games, or somehow lies beyond our borders – that we must build walls to keep us safe. But once again, violence in El Paso, Dayton, and Gilroy reminds us that we are not as safe as we hoped, nor are we close to grasping ‘great’. Until children, parents, friends, sisters, brothers, teachers are able to take up space without the fear of never going home, we will continue to live the American Tragedy. It is up to us to see how it ends. Please consider purchasing a download of this song as 100% of the proceeds will go to Everytown for Gun Safety. xx Kiki