I took this photo as part of an assignment from friends over on 43Things to take a photograph of "power." I had to think a lot about this one. What do I think is powerful?
Standing up for what you believe, even when it’s not the popular position. Peaceful resistance.
A few years ago in the U.S.--even a few months ago--it felt a little dangerous to say that we shouldn’t be in Iraq. I found out that a few people who I thought of as friends would like to shut me up. They thought I was a threat to the security of our country for saying what I believed.
To me, freedom of speech is at the core of what this country is supposed to stand for. Get rid of that, and you don’t have much left to defend.
As evidenced by the recent elections, some people’s minds have been changed. The large and small actions of hundreds of thousands of peaceful people willing to speak up have made a difference. Oh, and Keith Olberman's comments helped give us courage, too.
It isn't solved, but the ways of talking about it are opening up.
[Edit: If you are interested in what other people are doing for this goal on 43Things, take a look.]
3 comments:
To me, this pic says: "Simply focus on peace."
mltt
That's a very cool assignment. Don't know what I would've done with that. Maybe a socket or something...that's my literal approach to things. This hand gesture is just incredibly popular with the Chinese, both Taiwan and Mainland. I'm not sure why. I can sort of imagine that Nixon's visit to China may have made this popular on the Mainland, but that does not explain Taiwan. It's difficult to find a photo of a group of college age (up to the 30's) Chinese and not see someone making this gesture. Although sometimes it's made to look like bunny ears behind someone, othertimes it's clearly meant to mean victory.
I like what you did with the photo -- the plain background and the vignette.
I'm a little surprised that in LA you'd run into trouble for saying what you think as recently as this. I would have believed it a few years ago, but just a few months ago? Maybe you should move up to Portland!
Shu-Ju
Heh heh. Some people really believe in the idea that the president shouldn't be questioned.
As much as my core group of friends are very liberal, it was a real learning experience to find out that people I cared for could hold such different opinions.
And you have to remember that although California is home to all kinds of laid back things, it's also the state that brought you Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwartzenegger.
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