Our hearts go out to all the victims in the Santa Fe community and their families. ?? pic.twitter.com/7ejLAd8nKk
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— Billboard Music Awards (@BBMAs) May 21, 2018
When the 2018 Billboard Music Awards took place on Sunday night, the event opened with words from Kelly Clarkson about the school shooting that occurred on Friday at Santa Fe High School in the Houston area.
Two teachers and eight students were killed when a 17-year-old male student opened fire at his school. The tragedy hit Clarkson especially hard as a mom and Texas native. When she started to speak about the incident, she was overcome with emotion, but managed to deliver her message.
Clarkson said that she was asked to lead the crowd in a moment of silence but she admitted, "I am so sick of moment of silence. It's not working, like, obviously...So why don't we not do a moment of silence. Why don't we do moment of action? Why don't we do moment of change? Why don't we change what's happening, because it's horrible."
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Clarkson's vulnerability on stage and combination of sorrow and anger came across as very relatable to those who are emotionally drained from watching the heartbreaking news of school shootings across the United States. As Clarkson said, "We need to do better ... We're failing our children. We're failing our communities. We're failing their families."
