The last time I saw my son was the morning of Valentine’s Day 2018. Joaquin looked fabulous as usual, holding a bouquet to give later that day to his girlfriend, Victoria. I took him to school, and we chatted along the way. A few hours later, he was shot and killed by a deranged mass shooter inside his school in Parkland, Florida.
A little more than a year later, in 2019, I met Joe Biden in Fort Lauderdale during a public event. That day he told us that “life is about finding a purpose, and once you find that purpose, you will be able to overcome anything.”
That message meant a lot to me and my family. We began to feel a special connection to this father, who knew the pain of losing a son and could still find purpose in life and even run for president.
ADVERTISEMENT
I felt so inspired that I decided to make a painting with both of our sons (Beau and Joaquin) with the word “purpose” on it. The plan was to give Mr. Biden the painting, but that hasn’t happened yet. Regardless, I was convinced that Mr. Biden and I would react with the same courage and determination to injustice and pain.
My wife, Patricia, and I later had the privilege of introducing Mr. Biden during a campaign rally in Florida. Before the event, we even had the chance to personally engage with him—and he promised us that he would prioritize gun violence and go after the gun manufacturers. I thought that was an exciting approach, and my confidence in the candidate grew.
After he won the 2020 election, the Oliver family came to believe we would now have someone in the White House that understands our pain and shares in our anger and frustration. Biden had convinced us that we’d now have a president with a purpose.
But I was wrong. A year and a half into President Biden’s presidency, he has not delivered on what he promised us, nor has he shown a commitment to the purpose.
At a White House event this week where the president was “celebrating” the passage of the Safer Communities Act—a bipartisan gun safety bill—I could not contain my frustration. I wasn’t feeling celebratory, not barely a month after 19 kids were slaughtered at a school in Uvalde, Texas. I wanted the president to know he needed to do more, and that he had let us down. And then I was escorted off the premises.
These days, many people continuously ask me if I think things are getting any “better.” My answer is always based on the ever-growing number of victims of gun violence and mass shootings. So, I guess the answer should be NO, things are not getting better, and gun sales keep increasing, making the manufacturers the only winners in this “murdering each other” business model.
In just the last few years of my son Joaquin’s life, I could already see how this beautiful boy was frightened and frustrated by mass shootings in Orlando, Las Vegas, and any number of American cities. What we didn’t know was the fact that he could be one of the next victims.
I hadn’t planned to shout down the president at the White House, but it was his advice from years ago that gave me the purpose to do so. We all have a role in this fight, and the president expected me to find a purpose so I could overcome anything—including the unspeakable loss of a child.
Our social movement has no color or political affiliation; our fight is against gun violence and anyone who is not putting an honest effort into stopping a uniquely American epidemic. As long as our political leaders ignore our urgent call to save lives, I’m compelled to have my voice heard, even if that means interrupting any speech, from any politician, anywhere.
The challenge ahead requires us to kick the establishment and generate a more robust and aggressive response. We can’t allow our elected officials to increase the social damage behind gun violence by showing fear and inaction toward gun manufacturers and the gun industry in general.
We have a purpose, but we all need to act on it—and push lawmakers to do the same.
