I love coaching basketball. Being around young people and helping them become the best versions of themselves is incredibly gratifying. But the job also offers a glimpse into how fragile it can all be. One injury, one bad break, a change in circumstances can shift everything for a player in a single moment.
Life is the same way. I found that out when I lost my dad, Malcolm Kerr, to gun violence in 1984 when I was just 18 years old. He was 52 and missed out on so much. I think about him every day. My family’s loss was profound and has shaped how I feel about gun violence, and why I’m so passionate about trying to move the needle on how we view this issue across America.
We talk about gun violence like it’s abstract, like it’s theoretical. But it isn’t. It’s human loss. That’s the real cost, and the families of children lost to gun violence carry that loss every day.
Gun violence is now the No. 1 killer of children in America. That’s astonishing, and it’s unforgivable. But what’s just as dangerous is becoming numb to it — reading about it again and again, shaking our heads and going back to our lives unchanged.
I’ve spoken out after shootings before, after Parkland, after Uvalde, after too many. I’m tired of moments of silence that don’t lead to anything. I’m tired of condolences as a substitute for action. We can’t keep saying “this is horrible” and then move on like that’s enough.