Welcome to the Overnight News Digest with a crew consisting of founder Magnifico, current leader Neon Vincent, regular editors side pocket, maggiejean, Chitown Kev, Doctor RJ, Magnifico, annetteboardman and Man Oh Man. Alumni editors include (but not limited to) wader, palantir, Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse (RIP), ek hornbeck, ScottyUrb, Interceptor7, BentLiberal, Oke (RIP) and jlms qkw.
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing each day near 12:00 AM Eastern Time.
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Faces of healing, one year after the Pulse Nightclub massacre
Washington Post
Photographer Cassi Alexandra has been working for the last year to capture all their stories. She titled it “We are family” to underscore how much the community means to each other in the face of tragic circumstances. Some also identify themselves as “family” as a way of saying they are part of the LGBTQ community.
Brandon Wolf was having a hard night. Just after deciding with his love interest, Eric Borrero, that they wouldn’t be in a relationship, Eric wanted to go out that weekend as friends. That Saturday, despite dragging along his close friends, Juan Guerrero and Christopher “Drew” Leinonen, as a buffer, the air between them at the club was tense and frustrating.
But Leinonen took on the role of peacemaker. “One thing we don’t do enough is remind each other how much we love each other,” he said. “So I’m going to be the one to say to you, ‘I love you.’ I love you all,” he said.
It was the greatest blessing amid the darkest curse that Wolf was given this moment with his friends — just before a gunman began to spray the pulsating crowd at the club they were at with bullets.
Guerrero, Leinonen, and 47 other people died because of the shooting at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando. Nearly one year ago, it entered the history books as the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Beyond the victims, family, friends and community members like Wolf have felt the ripple effects of the devastation.