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Melissa Harris-Perry: It's The Takeaway. I'm Melissa Harris-Perry.
Amelia Sandoval: What so hard is you send your kids to school and thinking they're going to make it back home. Then they don't.
Melissa Harris-Perry: That's Amelia Sandoval speaking with ABC News, her grandson, Xavier Lopez was one of the 19 children who did not make it home safely on Tuesday. Xavier's mom told the Washington Post that her active creative son was a passionate artist who really couldn't wait to go to middle school. The family of Jose Flores say he was a dedicated student who loved playing baseball.
Alexandria Aniyah Rubio she received the good citizen award on Tuesday, according to a Facebook post by her mother. Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez and Maite Rodriguez, both received honor roll certificates for academic excellence on Tuesday morning. The family of Amerie Jo Garza was told that she died while calling 911. She was trying to make sure she could get help for herself and for others.
Annabelle Guadalupe Rodriguez and Jacklyn Jaylen Cazares were cousins. Jacklyn's father told ABC that his daughter had the biggest heart. Jackie was the one that would go out of her way to help anyone. Uziyah Garcia was eight years old. His grandfather says the two of them enjoyed playing football together, and he told the associate press that Uziyah was the sweetest little boy I've ever known and I'm not just saying that because he's my grandkid.
10-year-old, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos and 11-year-old Jailah Nicole Silguero were also cousins. They had just gathered with their family one week earlier for their grandfather's Memorial. Jailah's grandmother told The Daily Beast that her granddaughter was passionate about dancing and was just learning how to make TikTok videos. Eliahana Torres was 10 years old and on Tuesday prior to learning about her death, Eliahana's aunt told the San Antonio KENS5 about her last exchange with her niece.
Eliahana's Aunt: She was very excited about her softball game today, she was nervous and as I like, "Girl you got this. You're going to be good at it, you got this." She was excited about her game today.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Tess Marie Mata was a softball player too, her sister wrote on Facebook, "I want to take you outside and practice softball. I want to go on one last family vacation. I want to hear your contagious laugh, and I want you to hear me tell you how much I love you." Makenna Lee Elrod was 10 years old, the mother of her friend wrote on Facebook that Makenna and her daughter were tumbling buddies and told the story that Makenna had made her daughter a friendship bracelet that she's been wearing every day since".
Rogelio Torres was 10 years old. His mother told ABC News that he was a very smart and loving child. Nevaeh Bravo's name is heaven spelled backward. In a Memorial Facebook post, her cousin said, "She's flying with the angels above." Eliahna "Ellie" Garcia dreamed of wearing a purple dress to her Quinan and her aunt spoke with The AP about her.
Ellie's Cousin: She was very happy and very outgoing, loved to dance and sing and play sports. She was big into family and enjoyed being with the family.
Melissa Harris-Perry: The father of 10-year-old Layla Salazar told The AP that Layla won six races at the school's field day. Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles were co-teachers for the past five years. Mrs. Garcia taught for 23 years at Robb Elementary, she was a mother of four children and she wrote in her teacher profile, "I love to barbecue with my husband, listen to music, and take country cruises to Concan". Eva Mireles was a teacher for 17 years, she had a daughter and also cared for three furry friends. The mother of one of her former students spoke with ABC.
Speaker: It was more than anybody else has ever poured into my child and I've just never seen anyone quite so dedicated.
Melissa Harris-Perry: I have to say there was only one name I'd been looking for, there was only one name that I knew to look for, Alithia Ramirez. I did not know her, but I knew she was an artist. When I was trying to learn about Uvalde and Robb Elementary, I saw an earlier post from this year that Alithia had won the second to fourth-grade division of the bullying prevention poster contest hosted by the school district.
In her poster, a smiling yellow sun floats above puffy clouds, and on the grass below two mean kids are hurling insults at another group of children huddled beneath a tree. They're yelling fat and loser and dumb, but the hero in Alithia's poster is a little girl superhero in a purple costume with yellow boots and an orange cape, and she's standing in front of the huddled children with her hand extended toward the bullies in a sign of stop.
All the while, that little girl superhero is casting a force field made of purple hearts to protect the kids from the hurtful words of the bullies. Across the center of the poster in capital letters rendered in alternating colors of the rainbow are the words "kindness takes courage". As soon as I saw her poster, I committed her name to heart, Alithia Ramirez, and I searched every few hours, and as long as it never returned a result, I could breathe, but then, there she was smiling in a rainbow tie-dyed shirt, Alithia Ramirez is gone. Her dad told K Set that Anthia loved to draw and that she'd recently submitted a drawing to the Doodle for Google contest. In my mind, Alithia will always be the little superhero defending her friends and telling us "Kindness Takes Courage".
[music] Buffalo, Uvalde, in the span of just 10 days, two horrifying acts of deadly violence. We asked you to tell us how you were feeling, here's what you shared.
Cynthia: This is Cynthia, I'm calling from Philadelphia. My heart is broken. We need to stop. We need to do better. They were babies.
Speaker: I am calling from Watkinsville, Georgia, and I am absolutely heartbroken. I cried yesterday when I heard about this until I could not cry anymore. I could not sleep. My stomach aches, my heart aches, my head aches, this is enough.
Tom: This is Tom McCarter. I'm based in California. Personally, I feel numb. I know nothing will be done, the gun industry is more interested in profits than the collateral damage that they cause.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Even as we're trying to find some kind of emotional balance in the midst of all of this, there's so much politics.
MJ: My name is MJ, people are more concerned about being re-elected than they are about other people's lives. Conservatives are more concerned about five-week-old fetuses than they are about five-year-old children.
Speaker: My feeling is that we've been let down by Congress entirely, the left wants to go too far, and the right wants to pull it back too far. We've lost the middle ground of common sense, allowing 18-year-olds access to automatic weapons when they can't even buy alcohol in most states is ridiculous.
Elaine: This is Elaine from Bronx, New York, I am in rage and angry that this continues to happen in our country, and I hope that everyone's anger is reflected in the polls in November because it's time to hold these people accountable.
Larry: My name is Larry calling from Lumberton, New Jersey. I think there's no description but evil for those who refuse to do anything to try to control these gun violence deaths and the people who will not act are evil.`
Melissa Harris-Perry: These are the losses that have some folks saying they're ready for change.
Lisa: Hi, my name's Lisa in Murray Kentucky. I have always been one who was a strong believer in personal gun ownership for the purposes of hunting or home protection. The time has come for us to do something. I think at a minimum folks should be required to take gun safety classes. I think there should be age limits such as the age of 25 and there should be a complete background check.
Melissa Harris-Perry: For hope in Durham, North Carolina, it's the everyday reminder. That's the hardest.
Speaker: When I bring my kids into school we have to be buzzed in through two doors which makes me feel really reassured for my kids' safety, but when I come out of those two doors and I see a parent walking up I have to make a decision about whether to be a courteous person and hold the door open for them or whether to maybe be a jerk. Offer our kids safety and it's so taxing. I have to make split-moment decisions anytime I go into my kid's school. It's awful.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Thank you to everyone who called in and shared with us. If you have more to say, we're here to listen. The number is 877-869-8253 and it's open anytime. Just give us a call. We appreciate you sharing with us. This is The Takeaway.
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