Tucson's Children Take Pictures of Hope
Juan Coronel, 9, sees signs of trouble. Graffiti in his Tucson neighborhood makes him worried, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.
"I always feel like I think it's unsafe for me to be around this," said Coronel. "I always get scared that something might happen."
Something did happen. When a gunman shot and killed six people in Tucson, the youngest was 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green. She was the same age as Juan and many of his classmates.
"She's young. Why take a little person's life away?" asked 4th grader Daijha Hawley.
Mourning the Loss of Christina Taylor Green
Celebrity photographer Linda Solomon is trying to help these 4th graders focus on their future, not their fear.
"I want to be able to give the children a chance to share something, something that is sometimes difficult to express verbally," said Solomon.
So each child wrote down his or her hope for America.
"My hope for America is to help homeless people," wrote one child.
"A peaceful country...a loveable family," wrote another.
"My hope for America is to stop bullies fighting with people," wrote a third child.
They were given the tools to capture that hope through one single image.
Yami Vega, 10, showed the local donation center.
"It's pretty sad we have clothes, houses and other people don't," said Vega.
Daijha Hawley took her picture of forgiveness.
Coronel photographed that graffiti.
"I think this means that the world can be a better place," said Coronel.
Suzi Hileman, the neighbor who took Christina to meet her congresswoman that fateful Saturday helped pick out the best work.
When asked what Christina would write, Hileman answered, "Christina would have said peace and justice, which was what was on her sweatshirt that Saturday morning."
And that is what Tucson's healing looks like.
"I have a hole in my life for a 9 year old...would you fill it?" Hileman asked Coronel.
Connecting through tragedy and forming a new picture of hope.
