I generally use this blog to write about science, history, or sports, but I am compelled to break my typical silence on current events and acknowledge the recent mass shooting in Charleston. Nothing I could write would do justice to the profundity of the tragedy, so I will instead solemnly direct readers toward several online resources that I found helpful. In an effort to provide context for the racially motivated massacre, numerous historians have spent the past week posting book/article suggestions to Twitter using the hashtag #CharlestonSyllabus. Meanwhile, historians at the AAIHS have curated many of these suggestions into a more digestible form at this very helpful link. Finally, if you would like to know how your elected congressional representatives feel about the absurd prevalence of guns in the United States, please check out this link.