Grief Across California, Hope Beyond Violence

This week, as families around the country practice gratitude for their loved ones, one

community in Oakland remains grief-stricken. As the holiday season begins, we are confronted with two truths at once: the strength of community, and the heartbreak of another shooting.

This story is more than one of firearm abuse. It’s the story of a mentor, a school mourning a protector, and a country carrying a familiar and escalating grief.

On November 13, beloved football coach and educator John Beam was found unresponsive after a shooting at Laney College. He was previously featured in the Netflix series Last Chance U, but his most meaningful impact lived beyond the cameras, in the students he guided and uplifted. 

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee honored him as a “lifeline for thousands of young people,” someone who built leaders, safeguarded potential, and changed lives through constant care.

His death was not an isolated wound. Within 48 hours, Oakland faced another school shooting at Skyline High School, where a student was injured. Violence reached into classrooms again, far too fast and far too close.

And across California, the heartbreak deepened. Over the weekend, gunfire erupted at the Oakridge Mall in San Jose, sending terrified shoppers running for cover as chaos spread through the crowded shopping center. Police later confirmed that at least one person was injured, and dozens of families were locked down in stores as the mall was evacuated, a chilling reminder that even ordinary spaces of gathering and joy can become scenes of fear in an instant.

Just hours later in Stockton, another act of senseless violence shattered what should have been a child’s celebration. At a birthday party attended by more than a dozen children, multiple shots were fired into the yard, injuring several guests and killing one parent who had been trying to protect the kids. The party balloons and gifts were left behind in the aftermath, haunting symbols of how quickly joy can turn to tragedy.

Both incidents underscored a painful truth felt by communities across the state: that no city, no family gathering, and no moment of peace is entirely shielded from the reach of gun violence.

At a time when students should be thinking about homework, futures, or holiday excitement, they were absorbing trauma, grief, and fear. These are burdens no young person should carry.

Just last week, students mobilized in the streets. Their gathering was more than anger; it was exhaustion turned visible. Young leaders, many still in high school, carried handmade signs and voices heavy with words repeated like a mantra:

“We are tired.”“We are tired of grieving.”“We are tired of being afraid.”

Their leadership was born from urgency, not opportunity.

A generation repeatedly confronted with preventable loss is now united under one truth: they are tired of violence rewriting their everyday life. Oakland’s students spoke aloud what countless communities across the nation feel silently: a collective fatigue that demands acknowledgment, not forgetting.

Amid this heartbreak, we hold deep gratitude for the educators, families, students, and community members who refuse to be silenced by grief. Your resilience keeps our work alive.

To support healing, protect students, and amplify youth leadership, we cannot work alone. Awareness is the spark, but collective support is the path forward.

This Giving Tuesday, we need you so we can keep showing up. We need you to hold the line where violence does not pause. We need you to turn national exhaustion into real support for communities who are hurting, tired, but not giving up.

With your support, our mission transforms into a tangible impact. Together, we move forward.

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