Although it's almost been a month, the shock and the anguish upon hearing about the Orlando Shooting doesn't lessen even the slightest. For the unaware, a 29 year old security guard by the name of Omar Mateen killed about 49 people and wounded 53 others inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando.
A number of possible explanations and reasons for the barbaric terror attack have come up, with Mateen professing allegiance to ISIS in a 911 call during the attack, his ex-wife stating he was Bipolar, and his father suggesting he was driven by homophobia due to his religious beliefs. Furthermore, recently, it was even discovered that the guy had a gay dating app on his phone and would frequently visit Pulse. Now, the fact that he had the app + went to the club could either mean: he was very strategically planning his attack by understanding the area and the psychology of the people he so ardently hated, or he was, infact, gay himself - and did all of this due to sheer hatred that resided in his own skin. I'd like to go with the second statement, as I don't think Mateen was smart enough to "strategize" and "investigate" his crime pool.
Anyway, I don't like writing any further about this as it just upsets me. How many more attacks do people have to witness before citizens are tired of semi-automatic weapons being available? Perhaps this incident will change things. Perhaps something will grow from this. I hope so. Right now, we can all cling to hope. But it is honestly useless without action. Therefore, please donate to the victims if you have the time and resources. During such times, we really need to stand together united.
We here at FWOY are also deeply saddened upon hearing about the attacks in Turkey (36 dead, 147 injured due to airport bombing by ISIS) and Bangladesh (22 hostages dead in the 10 hour standoff with ISIS). Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.
About this month's issue: our feature theme is Nelson Mandela International Day. You can learn more regarding it in the Did You Know? column that shall follow the Editor's Note. Also, we have added a few new columns for you, plus shifted the Hindi classes here as well! Hope you enjoy this month's issue, happy reading. x
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Future Words of Yesterday: Issue #7 (#wattys2016)
Non-FictionJuly Issue's Feature Theme: Nelson Mandela International Day. Cover by @clarkethevirus
