One year after the terrible massacre that Half Moon Bay experienced on farms in the area, where 7 people lost their lives, the community is rising resilient and commemorating the victims in an emotional ceremony that will be held this Sunday.
“One-year commemoration ceremony,” as they called this emotional event, seeks to remember these 7 agricultural workers, 5 of them of Chinese origin, and two more immigrants from Mexico, who sought to make a living on the farms.
The City of Half Moon Bay has scheduled a special one-year remembrance ceremony to honor the victims and survivors of the tragic shooting on January 23, 2023.
This ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, January 21, 2024, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club Event Center, 530 Kelly Ave, in Half Moon Bay, where everyone is invited to share this solemn occasion with friends, family and other members of the community.
This year-long memorial ceremony will commemorate the lives lost and those who suffered injuries, as well as those who witnessed or were displaced by the shootings.
Local religious leaders will speak and a special “sound healing” activity will take place, which uses various instruments to create a beautiful and comforting sound experience that offers a type of therapy aimed at improving well-being and mood.
As part of remembrance, a candlelight procession will take place beginning at the Boys & Girls Club Event Center and ending at Mac Dutra Plaza, where everyone is invited to participate in a moment of silence for the victims. .
Confirmed speakers include Half Moon Bay City Council members, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Senator Josh Becker, Assemblyman Marc Berman, San Mateo County District 3 Supervisor Ray Mueller, and former United States Representative Jackie Speier.
The Town of Half Moon Bay shares the complex mix of emotions that this terrible and shocking incident brought to the coastal community.
As a way forward, the city promoted the creation of a local committee of community members, the Farmworker Commemoration and Remembrance Advisory Committee, charged with working together toward a suitable memorial for the deceased and a Memorial Ceremony. Commemoration. The committee includes family members of the victims, representatives of the farmworker community, non-profit organizations and general community members from the Asian Pacific Islander and Latino communities.
This committee has called on the community to join the One Year Remembrance Ceremony as a way to continue the healing process, unite people around this tragedy, and help build bridges to a better future for survivors and others. affected people.
This morning, the president Joseph Biden remembered the victims of both the Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay massacres.
"These shootings shocked the conscience of our nation," he said, recalling that an Executive order was created with new measures to end the epidemic of gun violence, as well as the launch of the first Office of Gun Violence Prevention of the White House.
Likewise, he highlighted that after the tragic shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay, California has also taken action, passing more than 20 new gun safety laws and investing in proven solutions, such as gun intervention programs. armed violence.
?We also need Congress to do its part. We long ago banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, ended liability immunity for gun manufacturers, passed a national red flag law, enacted universal background checks, and required safe gun storage. "We cannot confront the epidemic of gun violence in the United States while Republicans in Congress stand by?" he concluded.
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