The Cost of #ThoughtsAndPrayers

We’re done with #ThoughtsAndPrayers and empty promises. On the National Mall, we built a powerful installation to show our leaders exactly what their inaction costs us.

Thoughts and prayers are killing us

Five years ago, we organized the largest youth-led march since the Vietnam War. And what has followed? More than 170,000 lives lost to gun violence, endless words, and far too little action. To force our leaders to confront the cost of their inaction, we brought over a thousand child-sized body bags to the National Mall, spelling out “Thoughts and Prayers” in full view of the U.S. Capitol.

The installation laid bare the searing pain of the gun violence epidemic and the devastating toll it takes on America’s young people. At the time, gun deaths had just become the leading cause of death for young people in this country—a grim milestone that only underscored an even deeper injustice: for two decades prior, gun violence had already been the number one killer of Black children.

We refuse to let politicians look away or hide behind empty promises. This installation was one of many creative actions we’ve staged across the country to put leaders on notice: young people will not accept the status quo. We are building a movement determined to end the gun violence epidemic in our lifetime.