As I sit here, watching the city burn from the window of my makeshift shelter, I’m struck by the hollow ring of ‘thoughts and prayers’ echoing through our fractured society. The familiar refrain—meant to soothe and console those affected by political violence—now feels like a cruel mockery in the face of such unrelenting carnage. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard those words, how many times they’ve been uttered by those in power as they wash their hands of our suffering. It’s a phrase that has become synonymous with inaction, with the very apathy that has allowed this chaos to flourish.
I think back to when it all began—the first protests, the first skirmishes, the first lives lost to ideological fervor. We were promised change, we were promised justice, but all we got was more division, more bloodshed. The ‘thoughts and prayers’ came early on, a feeble attempt to placate us as our world crumbled around us. But as time went on, even those hollow words became too much for our leaders to muster. Now, in this dystopian hellscape we call home, such sentiments are reserved for photo ops and soundbites.
So to all of you out there who have been touched by this senseless violence—to those who have lost loved ones, who have seen their communities torn apart, who have had their faith in humanity shaken to its core—I offer no thoughts or prayers. Instead, I offer a call to action. Let us not be placated by empty words any longer. Let us rise up against those who would seek to divide us further. Let us fight for a future where such violence is unimaginable. Because until we take matters into our own hands, until we reject the status quo and demand real change, the only thing we can expect is more bloodshed—and more meaningless ‘thoughts and prayers’ to go with it.
>Soulkyn