#ThoughtsAndPrayers

We’re tired of #ThoughtsAndPrayers and empty promises. We launched a creative installation on the National Mall to show our elected leaders just what their thoughts and prayers do for us.

Thoughts and prayers are killing us.

Five years ago, we organized the largest youth-led march since the Vietnam war. And what have we gotten? 170,000+ gun-related deaths, a lot of talk, and not nearly enough action to address this crisis. We wanted to force our leaders to confront the toll of their inaction, so we brought over a thousand child-sized body bags to the National Mall to spell out “Thoughts and Prayers” within eyesight of the US Capitol.

The powerful installation captured the searing pain of the gun violence epidemic, and the unique toll it is exacting on America’s young people. When we created this installation, gun deaths became the leading cause of death for young people in America—but underscoring the breadth of our challenge, gun violence had already been the leading cause of death for Black children for two decades prior. We can’t let our politicians get away with their inaction. This installation is part of a long series of creative installations we’ve put together across the country to put our leaders on notice: Young people will not take the status quo. We will end the gun violence epidemic in our lifetime.