ABSTRACT
When a gunman opened fire in October 2018 on a group of Jewish worshippers inside the sanctuary of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, he orchestrated what has been regarded as the deadliest attack against Jews in the United States. This chapter explores a “craft activism” campaign organized in the immediate aftermath of the attack as an attempt to put sorrow and love into action during a period of national helplessness. Drawing on the scholarship of Butler, Halbwachs, and Sontag, among others, the author’s activist case study demonstrates how craft-work offers a legitimate and mobilizing response, and a memory-making tool, following gun violence and mass shootings.
