Actor Matthew McConaughey spoke for more than twenty minutes on Tuesday in front of the White House press corps in the official White House Briefing room. McConaughey is a Texas native who was born in Uvalde and lived there until he was 11 years old. His mother is a former kindergarten teacher. McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves have spent time over the last couple of days with the grieving families in Uvalde.
On Tuesday, McConaughey spoke about the children who died and the families who miss them, and he tried to honor these lost lights in the hopes of keeping them alive in not only our memories, but with respect to their family’s memories. It is a moving and emotional tribute to the children and teachers who died inside Robb Elementary School, and McConaughey held back many of those emotions in order to communicate a fundamental point:
Something must be done so that these children’s memories, and the memories of all the many thousands of people killed by gun violence are not forgotten.
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McConaughey began by saying, “To make the loss of these lives matter...” It was a powerful thesis to rest this moment in front of the White House press on. McConaughey delivered, speaking to the small details of some of the children who were killed, details that remind us all that these children were people. They had dreams, they had ideals, and they weren’t ragged with the corruptions of power that their country’s politicians have become accustomed to.
He spoke about how he and his wife had spent most of the last week meeting with the families of deceased children, and his statement was the result of those conversations. "You know what every one of these parents wanted, what they asked us for? What every parent separately expressed in their own way to Camila and me? That they want their children's dreams to live on. That they want their children's dreams to continue, to accomplish something after they are gone. They want to make their loss of life matter.”
He spoke about the children. He spoke about Maite Rodriguez, who dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. McConaughey’s wife Camila held Maite’s green Converse sneakers on her lap while he spoke. The sneakers had a red heart drawn on the right toe. According to Maite’s parents, Maite drew that as a symbol of her love of nature.
McConaughey spoke about the need to provide real mental health care for the survivors of these tragedies. He spoke about the need for common-sense gun laws, the kinds that almost all Americans want, that are stalled at the table by morally bankrupt politicians. He also touched on the damage caused by guns like the AR-15, clearly choking back emotions as he talked about speaking with the morticians who are doing God’s work to make the dead children as presentable as possible for their funerals.
In the end, McConaughey’s point was made. These children may be gone, but it is our duty to act in their memory as they will always be and forever remain a better version of what we could have been.
It is worth watching all the way through. Warning: It is very emotional and intense.
Elie Mystal is on Daily Kos' The Brief podcast