A copy of the book that memorialises the 37 people killed in school shootings in 2018. Photo / The 2018 Yearbook via The New York Times
A copy of the book that memorialises the 37 people killed in school shootings in 2018. Photo / The 2018 Yearbook via The New York Times
The black, hard-bound book with black lettering is meant to look stark. The harsh cover with only "2018" on its top purposely does not resemble the colourful fronts of normal yearbooks, which "should be about commencement, hopes and dreams and what comes next in life," its website says.
"Unfortunately," itadds, "this yearbook is about none of those things."
It's a yearbook for people killed in school shootings in 2018.
Created by a group that includes a Parkland survivor and a Sandy Hook mother, as well as several nonprofit organisations, the 2018 yearbook memorialising 37 victims who were fatally shot while under the protective mantle of education has one goal: Stop the violence.
The group is shipping copies of the yearbook to all members of the US Senate, the governors of every state, each of the 2020 presidential candidates, and President Donald Trump.
"When you lose a child, that pain is with you, every day, all day long," said Scarlett Lewis, one of the yearbook's organisers and the mother of Jesse Lewis, 6, who was killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012.
This Saturday will be the seventh anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook, where Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 first-grade students and six staff members before killing himself as police arrived at the school. Earlier in the day, Lanza shot and killed his mother.
Before he was shot, Jesse Lewis saved the lives of several classmates after he urged them to flee from the gunfire as Lanza reloaded, The Hartford Courant reported in October 2013. His mother, who founded the nonprofit Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement, said she tries to embody that courage daily.
"I want this project to spur everyone into action," she said. "The opposite of anxiety is action."
School shootings are preventable, Lewis said, noting that 2018 was the deadliest year on record.
A copy of the book that memorialises the 37 people killed in school shootings in 2018. Photo / The 2018 Yearbook via The New York Times
"We are all responsible for our children's safety in school," she said, adding that "we know what to do, we just have to find the courage to do it."
The yearbook project is the brainchild of Andrew Goldin, a cousin of Julia Cordover, who was the student body president at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when Nikolas Cruz shot his way through the school February 14, 2018, leaving 17 people dead.
"In so many ways, I feel like I can't do anything about the problem, and I'm tired of feeling that way," Goldin said Monday night. He said he had no illusions that the yearbook would be the one project that sparked action but added that it would be "one more drop in the bucket."
"If somebody hears about it and is inspired to do something, then collectively, all the actions, along with the yearbook, can work to make a societal change," he said.
Cordover, who was not injured in the Parkland shooting, said in an interview Monday night that the shooting was "a nightmare that I've never woken up from."
Now a 20-year-old college student, she balances academics and activism, which she credits with helping her heal. The yearbook, she said, was another way to get involved.
"I can't just sit back and watch things unfold on TV," Cordover said.
She hopes the yearbook will inspire people, including politicians and other young people, to work toward ending gun violence.
"It's a good call to action for the youth to get out there and vote and have a knowledgeable experience about what's going on in America," Cordover said.
In February, the House of Representatives passed the first major gun control law in decades. That bill, called the Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019, has yet to be voted on by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Last month's school shooting in Santa Clarita, California, which left two people dead, occurred as Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat, was on the Senate floor imploring his colleagues to act on gun control legislation, ABC News reported.
The yearbook will not be publicly available, but people will have the chance to see it during an exhibition that opens in Brooklyn on Wednesday with an event that lasts from 6pm to 8pm at 126 Front St. Lewis, the Sandy Hook mother, Cordover, and Alex Bogusky, who also worked on the project, are expected to give remarks.
The exhibition, which runs through December 29, includes a timeline of the school shootings that took place in 2018 and "the opportunity to leave thoughts and learn about the organizations working to turn the pain and anger of gun violence into action."
