The Pulse Nightclub: Memorializing a Way Forward, Resisting the Way Back

Abstract

In this study, we examine memorialization as resistance among minoritized communities following mass violence, focusing on public responses to the 2016 Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. We analyze 21 handwritten scrolls collected and digitally preserved by Hands On Orlando to explore how individuals transformed grief into collective meaning. These spontaneous memorial texts reveal shared expressions of mourning, solidarity, and hope. Drawing on symbolic interactionist perspectives, we show how narratives and symbolic acts help communities cope with disruption, reinterpret violence, and assert resistance. We argue that memorial practices among targeted communities illuminate how resistance emerges within the very social contexts that produce vulnerability.