Anna Eskamani is an activist in Central Florida. At the time of the oral history she was a senior policy director at Planned Parenthood. She has since been elected the State Representative for District 47.
The day before the Pulse shooting, June 11, 2016, which was a Saturday, Anna had a meeting at a coffee shop across from the Plaza Live. There were trucks around the Plaza because there had been a shooting there the night before. Singer Christina Grimmie had been killed outside the venue. They were discussing advocacy for gun safety. The crime scene was a reminder of why they do the work they do.
Later that day she went to the Don Quixote awards that the Hispanic Chamber does each year. She met a friend she hadn’t seen in a while and felt good when she left. She and her sister live a mile and a half from Pulse. Her sister was sleeping, jet lagged from a long plane flight having returned from vacation. Anna went to bed herself and woke up to the sound of helicopters about 3AM. She checked her phone and saw notifications from CNN. The Pulse nightclub had a shooting. She began texting Latino friends to see if they were OK. She had to turn on the TV and they kept playing the same footage over and over. On Facebook she found that the husband of one of her friends was an emergency responder, so he was in the hospital helping get people there. At the time there was a rumor that there was a gunman inside the hospital. She supported her friend by phone.
She was going to work out that morning with a trainer and she kept putting it off. She needed to see the next press conference. She finally decided she wanted to keep some semblance of normalcy and went to the work out. They trained outside and the sound of helicopters were even more predominant. She cut the workout short. She couldn’t do it. She has 185 co-workers and they began texting. Mass e-mails went out to staff to make sure they were OK. Planned Parenthood wanted to issue a statement. This was before anyone knew the final count. Anna began crafting a statement for the national office. She hadn’t cried yet. She finally cried on a phone call with a co-worker. She had been to Pulse in the past and she had friends who go to Pulse. The emotions welled up. She got the statement off to National and local press.
About 4PM there was a press conference at the Center. She needed to be there to show solidarity. The Center became the hub for the response in the beginning. She wore a t shirt that said “My Health My Life No Matter What.” It was so hot inside. The AC was not working. People were crying. There was so much press. There were at least 30 cameras. She wasn’t planning to speak. However all the advocacy groups were asked to speak. She got nervous. She spoke about how Planned Parenthood stands in solidarity with the LGBTQ community. Planned Parenthood is no stranger to violence and the community can not be paralyzed by violence. She pointed out, the community needs to push back and just like the health centers our spaces need to remain safe. This is very real for all of us. In Florida no practical efforts are being made to insure that when you go to school or you walk your neighborhood, or go to a club or movie theater, that you will actually be able to get back home.