My heart is heavy. I feel an enormous sense of grief and sadness over the mass shootings that continue to plague our nation. I grieve for the families and the incredible loss they now must endure. I am concerned for our community and country.

Nineteen children and two teachers massacred at school in Uvalde, Texas is as devastating as the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018; or Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012; or Columbine High School in 1999. Are we willing to accept this? Should we normalize gun violence as inevitable, tolerable? What type of people, nation do we now aspire to become?

While mass shootings garner widespread attention, equally troubling is the pervasive gun violence in Black and Brown communities. On average, 30 Black Americans are killed every day and 3,800 Latinos die every year due to gun violence. Almost seven of 10 Black Americans have experienced gun violence or care for someone who has. These alarming facts show the deep disparity that exists from years of disinvestment in our neighborhoods, resulting in limited access to quality education, healthcare, and employment opportunities.

As a nation, we must remain convicted in our pursuit of answers to the tyranny of unyielding gun violence. While sensible legislation needs to be enacted, we have a collective responsibility to drive solutions in our own communities.

So many of our young people are in crisis, struggling with trauma that makes it tough to relate to other youth and adults around them. We must recognize these young lives, intervene, and provide them access to mental health services on every level. We must help them handle their emotions, instill hope, and give our youth another way out that doesn’t include use of a gun and further violence.

There are countless organizations that do this important work in our schools and communities across the county. As we commemorate Juneteenth and our freedom from the violence and trauma of enslavement, this is the moment to double-down and support this critical work through funding and advocacy.

We must tune into our young people and their realities if we want real solutions to end gun violence. Let’s be proactive and stand in the gap where government policy falls short. Complacency and acceptance are not an option. The epidemic of gun violence must end now, and we have to do it now!

Lucia Davis-Raiford is president & CEO of the Carrie Meek Foundation