It’s been difficult to post anything as of late. I’ve been glued to television and internet sites such as, DirectNIC, Paul Schmelzers’ excellent Eyeteeth, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, as well as the major news sites, and the excellent Getty images database.
In all, like many I expect, I’ve been going from angry to depressed to angry to depressed again. It’s 2005, two..thousand…and..five….and still these things happen, I can’t help but wonder what it will take for the general public to get politically involved, (and I don’t mean in terms of declaring us vs them mentality). This terrible event brings so much to light, issues decades old and still blissfully ignored in this country, poverty, racism, political manipulation, media ownership, the list goes on.
What has been encouraging through it all, is the images, the harrowing, amazing, and horrific photographs and video of the event as it unfolded before our eyes. A few of the photographers names keep coming up, most notably Eric Gay, an AFP, AP photographer who I hope is catching up on rest now, but from his prolific amount of images I imagine he’s working. The images of this event and the media in general here, while still in some cases still over-sensationalizing some things and not reporting others, were a huge part of what made the federal gov’t finally act up. What was interesting about this is that like Social Photography or Documentary, this journalism had an agenda to change the events by recording them, rather than simply recording them. As much as the media used the images as propaganda for the public and government to respond, the victims were aware enough to speak directly through the media to the same audiences.
This event is just beginning, much work to do, unlike any other disaster response I know of it was riddled with violence from the start. I can’t think of any natural disaster or even terrorist attack where victims and citizens were held at gunpoint and treated like prisoners, with little compassion or respect. Most importantly I hope those accountable are held accountable, from FEMA to the murderers and rapists from inside the convention center to the national guardsmen who shot and killed a man begging for assistance for a woman who was being raped. Yes some of this may be hearsay but let’s not just dismiss it, we owe not only to the victims but to ourselves and our future to hold people accountable and investigate as many reports as possible.
And if possible continue to donate.