What do you want us to remember? On quarantining the memory of Christchurch

Published in Overland, 17th March, 2020:

I read every manifesto and I doubt I’m alone in this being a ritual we – 9/11 Muslims – participate in through our disdainful gaze at white male mass shooters. I remember the Isla Vista killings. The perpetrator mentioned in his ramblings that he cried when he watched The Land Before Time and I thought, hmm, that’s a pretty bizarre state of white male aggrievement.

Am I supposed to revisit the events of March 15? Read victim testimonies and reflections they have generously offered us in the press? How do I remember this anniversary? I did that – collected every Christchurch-dedicated news media and shared it on social media so the labour invested by survivors in providing them isn’t for nothing. I don’t know, maybe some people will read the testimonies. What do you want me to remember?