[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 80 (Wednesday, May 11, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E481-E482]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         RECOGNIZING WYN THOMAS

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, May 11, 2022

  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of an 
outstanding high school student in my district: Wyn Thomas, a senior at 
Stevenson High School, Wyn was one of eight student winners nationwide 
selected in the #Enough: Plays to End Gun Violence Competition for her 
outstanding play, Write Their Wrongs.
  I had the honor of sitting down with Wyn to discuss her play and the 
importance of ending our nation's gun violence epidemic. When I first 
read Wyn's play, I was incredibly moved at how she captured the 
frustration and devastation that we all feel about school shootings.
  I am grateful for students like Wyn who will continue to advocate 
that we address our Nation's devastating gun violence epidemic. 
Congratulations to Wyn on this incredible honor.
  I include in the Record the text of Wyn's play:

                           Write Their Wrongs

                              (Wyn Thomas)

       Location: A high school classroom after school, where the 
     Writer's Club used to meet before there was a shooting in the 
     school. Maya was locked down in this room during the 
     shooting.
       (Maya sits at a table anxiously. She has notebooks and a 
     laptop set up. Jimmy, with his arm in a sling, and Emily 
     enter.)
       Maya: You're late.
       Emily: Well, we got here before Lydia.
       Maya: Did you hear from her? Is she coming? Jimmy: Why 
     would she?
       Maya (pulling out chairs for them)
       Because she can take . . . everything that happened to us, 
     and do something with it. We can write something that makes a 
     difference in the world.
       Jimmy: Yeah, we already heard your soapbox speech over the 
     phone. Emily: I don't know if this is up Lydia's alley.
       Maya: Why wouldn't it be? She's in the writer's club, isn't 
     she? (They sit.)
       Maya: So, how are you guys?
       Emily: I'm fine.
       Jimmy (sarcastic, bitter)
       Never been better.
       Emily: Jimmy.
       Jimmy: What? (To Maya) Did you want the real answer?
       Maya: Yeah, I do. That's how we're going to write something 
     meaningful.
       Emily: That's how we're actually going to make a change.
       Jimmy: Fine . . . um . . . (vulnerable) The surgery was 
     hard. Recoyery is harder, because I can't really move, which 
     means I can't go to the places I love. Like your mom's house.
       Maya: Jimmy, this is serious. Do you have any actual ideas?
       Jimmy: No.
       Emily (under her breath): Tyler always had ideas.
       Jimmy: Well Tyler's not gonna show up, now is he?
       (Awkward silence.)
       Emily (breaking the tension): Are we writing an essay?
       Maya: Maybe a play? Or a poem?
       Emily: You think Republican senators can understand poetry?
       Maya: True, but we have to write something, so . . . let's 
     start with an idea. We never thought it would happen here, 
     but then it did. Shock people out of ignorance.
       Emily: The thing is, I didn't think it could never happen 
     here. I did the walk out in eighth grade and went to protests 
     starting freshman year because I knew it could.
       Maya: But, like, you were surprised when it actually 
     happened.
       Emily: Yeah, but . . . (referring to herself and Jimmy) 
     we're walking down the hall, and we hear it and-- . . . (She 
     breaks off.)
       Maya: Then what happened? What did you see?
       Emily: He-- . . . (She can't find the words.)
       Maya: He what?
       (Emily pushes away the memory.)
       Emily: I just thought ``today's the day.'' Like it was 
     inevitable. Which it practically is with current laws.
       (Lydia enters slowly, but the others haven't noticed yet.)
       Jimmy: And I just thought . . . Thank God I don't have to 
     take that math test. And I stand by that.

[[Page E482]]

       Emily (ignoring him): Let's drop the ``it can't happen 
     here'' and dig into policy, because it did happen here and it 
     can happen anywhere else in this country.
       Maya: Ok, but . . . we still don't have a story.
       Emily: We could use me and Jimmy's experience, and use 
     Tyler.
       Lydia (quiet): What about my brother?
       (They turn and see her.)
       Emily (surprised): You came.
       (Beat.)
       Jimmy: Does that mean that you're less broken or more 
     broken than we thought?
       Maya: Jimmy.
       Lydia (unphased): You said you're using my brother?
       Maya: That came out wrong. She didn't mean use him, she 
     meant use his story . . . for the piece.
       Lydia (unreadable): Huh.
       (She sits down, and fidgets with the zipper on her jacket. 
     The others look at her, then at each other.)
       Maya (hesitant): Do you have any ideas, Lydia?
       (Lydia doesn't say anything).
       Okay.
       Emily (to Maya, breaking silence): I don't think an essay 
     is enough to get people to listen. People write essays on gun 
     violence every day, and look where we are.
       Maya: But ours is gonna be different.
       Emily: What about a song?'That would be different.
       Maya: The medium isn't what's gonna set us apart, it's the 
     fact that our story will be real. We have the power to write 
     something real, because we're the ones that actually went 
     through it. (Slight beat.)
       Are you sure you're okay, Lydia?
       Lydia: You never asked if I was okay.
       Maya: Are you?
       (Lydia doesn't answer. She keeps playing with her zipper.)
       Jimmy: Let's go back to the poem idea. Uhhh, let's see . . 
     . Roses are red, I was almost dead, I may have been shot, but 
     I'm still good in--
       Maya (interrupting): Jimmy!
       Jimmy: What?
       Maya: Stop making a joke out of this. Jimmy: What else do 
     you want me to do? Maya: Be real.
       Jimmy: This is real. You want to join hands and sing 
     kumbaya and cry? Fine, but count me out. Also, you've got a 
     stupid cliche story.
       Maya: That's not funny.
       Jimmy: Did it sound like I was trying to be funny?
       Maya: Well--
       Jimmy (mocking): Everyone copes in different ways, Maya.
       Emily: How about we just make sure this never happens 
     again? So nobody else has to cope with this kind of thing 
     ever again.
       Maya: Exactly. Maybe . . . Ok, wait, remember that musical 
     we saw that once? About the kids in the school shooting?
       Emily: Yeah, it was horrible.
       Maya: Well, maybe it was horrible because it wasn't written 
     by people who knew what they were talking about. We know what 
     we're talking about.
       Emily: No, it was horrible because it focused on the 
     shooter.
       Maya: Well, that was a unique take. It was trying to get a 
     different perspective, but--
       Emily: No it wasn't, every article and new story and tweet 
     and church has the thoughts and prayers and ``forgive the 
     shooter'' bulls--- It's ridiculous, in real life, nobody 
     forgives the shooter, they--
       Lydia (looking up): I forgive him.
       Maya: What?
       Jimmy (surprised): She speaks.
       Emily: What do you mean you forgive the shooter?
       Lydia: I mean I forgive him.
       Jimmy: Because of your Christian guilt s---
       Emily: No, because it's easier than actually making change.
Lydia: You think it's easy?
       Emily: It means you get to just be okay with everything 
     that happened. You don't have to do anything about it.
       Maya: Write that--
       Emily (talking over her): You can go ahead and be okay with 
     it, but I'm not going to. Lydia (soft): You think I'm okay 
     with my brother being dead?
       Emily: That's--that's not what I said.
       Lydia: It's what you meant.
       Emily: Lydia--
       Lydia: I didn't forgive . . . Jack because it's easy, I did 
     it because . . . it feels really good.
       Jimmy: Huh?
       Lydia: Like I couldn't stop him, but I canbe better than 
     him.
       Emily: That won't stop it from happening again.
       Lydia: Well, what will? Talking about how kids were shot 
     and killed? Everybody talks about the school shootings every 
     time. We did before we were the kids. Do you know how many 
     people died in Parkland?
       Emily: I don't know, like--
       Lydia: 17. Nothing changed when 17 people died in Parkland, 
     so why would it when only 3 kids die here? It doesn't really 
     matter, does it?
       Emily: We have to keep trying. We put enough pressure on 
     Congress, and they have to make a change.
       Lydia: Do you guys read the articles? The ones about us? 
     (Beat.) You shouldn't. Maya: I read them.
       Lydia: Did you see the one where they mentioned Tyler had 
     just gotten back from a suspension?
       (Slight beat.)
       Maya (soft): What?
       Lydia: It wasn't a big news outlet. You couldn't cite it in 
     English class. But it was there. (Beat.) Maybe if they can 
     see I'm good, if I'm so f---ing good I can forgive the man 
     that killed my brother, I'll be worth listening to. Because 
     they don't care about Tyler because he got suspended. If I'm 
     just a good enough person, they'll want to save me, right? 
     (Beat.) Right?
       Jimmy (quiet): Were the first graders at Sandy Hook not 
     good enough people?
       Maya: That's not funny, Jimmy.
       Jimmy (genuine): It wasn't a joke.
       (Beat.)
       Lydia: He's right. They aren't going to listen. So I 
     forgive Jack--
       Emily (interrupting): Don't say his name!
       Jimmy: You sat next to him in freshman chemistry, you know 
     his name.
       Emily: Don't give him the notoriety!
       Jimmy: Do you think not saying his name is going to make 
     any of us forget what he did?
       Emily: He doesn't deserve the recognition!
       Jimmy (referencing his arm): Since when did all of this 
     become about what anyone deserves?
       Lydia: Exactly. I don't forgive Jack because he deserves 
     it, I forgive him because it's really really hard, so it 
     feels really good to do it. Being angry isn't going to do 
     anything but hurt me.
       Maya: Write that down.
       Lydia: No.
       Maya: What do you mean? We finally have something!
       Jimmy: Maya, chill the f--- out.
       Emily: Stop being a d--- Jimmy! She's actually trying to do 
     something here!
       Jimmy: Yeah, and it's annoying!
       Emily: Because you haven't done anything?
       Jimmy: I did something, I became your martyr, you're f---
     ing welcome.
       Emily: You're not dead! What are you doing to help the 
     people that are?
       Lydia: Writing isn't going to bring them back.
       Maya: It might not, but I--
       Lydia: You can take two seconds to grieve.
       Maya: But nothing happened to me! I'm totally fine! (to 
     Jimmy) You got shot, and (to Emily) and you saw it all 
     happen, (to Lydia) and you--Tyler. So you're all survivors, 
     and I'm just someone who hid in that f---ing corner, so I 
     have to do something! I have to write something!
       Lydia: No you don't.
       Maya: But--
       Lydia: It's not going to undo anything.
       Emily (to Lydia): No, Maya's right. If we tell our story to 
     politicians, or voters, or foundations, they have to listen. 
     They're going to listen.
       Lydia: Do you actually think you can talk about what 
     happened, Emily? Have you even let yourself remember it? 
     (Beat. She hasn't.)
       Maya: But everything happens for a reason. Maybe our reason 
     is so we can get something done.
       Lydia: Maya--
       Maya (before she can object): Isn't that what the church 
     says about it, Lydia?
       Jimmy: That's stupid. I'm not good enough of a person to be 
     God's vessel for getting 
     s--- done. It didn't happen so we could do something. It 
     happened because nobody did anything to stop it.
       (Beat.)
       Lydia: Yeah.
       Maya: That doesn't matter anymore. What matters is what we 
     do next.
       Lydia: We don't owe the world that. They owed us safety. 
     They owed Tyler safety.
       Maya: We can't--I can't just do nothing.
       Lydia: Nothing's okay.
       Maya: But--
       (She trails off. Beat.)
       Lydia (gentle): You can put the pencil down, Maya. (Maya 
     holds onto the pencil for dear life.)
       (End of Play).

                          ____________________