Photo of the Decade

Photo: Jonathan Bachman

Yes, I know it's gone viral and can be seen absolutely everywhere, and for absolutely good reason- I, like so many others, can't stop looking at it. And like any good great photo, there's good reason for that, basically because it works on so many levels, and does so, so very, very well. Composition- check, decisive moment- check, content- check, check and check.

What I first thought when I saw this photo was... superhero. Nefarious, super villains rising from the netherworld to wreak havoc on the lone guardian of the light. Alone, unafraid, strengthened by the very forces of the winds and nature at her command; she is secure and confident in her calm demeanor. Those advancing in attack formation are quick, aggressive and heavily armored- but overwhelmingly cautious all the same, fully cognizant of her latent power. 

And then, of course, there's real life- what seems an entire city's police force vs. one lone, very human Black female. And such has it always been, no matter the decade, when men of color have been attacked, beaten and killed by overwhelming forces. Their women have never been far behind, and in fact, often leading many of the various opposing and conciliatory forces at play. And always too... the iconic photo to remind us of just that.

Gary Webb- Kill The Messenger

If we had met five years ago, you wouldn’t have found a more staunch defender of the newspaper industry than me … I was winning awards, getting raises, lecturing college classes, appearing on TV shows, and judging journalism contests. So how could I possibly agree with people like Noam Chomsky and Ben Bagdikian, who were claiming the system didn’t work, that it was steered by powerful special interests and corporations, and existed to protect the power elite? And then I wrote some stories that made me realize how sadly misplaced my bliss had been. The reason I’d enjoyed such smooth sailing for so long hadn’t been, as I’d assumed, because I was careful and diligent and good at my job … The truth was that, in all those years, I hadn’t written anything important enough to suppress.   --Gary Webb




Before Assange, before Snowden, there was Gary Webb, not anywhere near as famous or internationally known, but a true American patriot and hero, who as overly dramatic as it may sound- yes, died for our collective sins. Repeatedly warned, by both fellow professionals and government officials alike, to keep his nose out and mouth shut, he divulged corruption to its deepest core- no matter the cost. Up until recently, I had always believed his death a suicide, end of story. But as most laypersons and professionals alike would naturally (and correctly)  assume... it's rather difficult to shoot yourself twice in the head...

On Dec. 1, 2005 I spoke with Ted Gunderson about Webb's death. Mr. Gunderson is a retired FBI agent who enjoyed a distinguished career with the FBI that spanned 27 plus years. Prior to his retirement in 1979 Mr. Gunderson was a "senior special agent-in-charge" with a $22 million annual budget at his disposal and over 700 persons under his charge. Mr Gunderson told me, "my expertise is analyzing and reconstructing crime scenes." He said, "Gary Webb was MURDERED. "He (Webb) resisted the first shot {to the head that exited via jaw} so he was shot again with the second shot going into the head {brain}." I asked Mr. Gunderson what he thought about the "two shots" to the head suicide theory that posits Webb "simply missed " his brain with the first shot, so he had to shoot himself again, this time successfully hitting the brain with a .38 revolver? Without hesitation Gunderson exclaimed, "impossible!"

 

 

I have yet to see Kill The Messenger; Jeremy Renner is one good actor, and whether the movie is good, bad or indifferent is inconsequential in the long run- I'm just glad more people will be exposed to the type of person Gary Webb was, and the work he sacrificed his life for... as opposed to the scum clothed in the aura of respectability that control so much of this country, who continue to propagate their horrors worldwide, unchecked and undeterred.

"Please have no leniency with me."

Said the 80 yr old nun to the judge... Hero(es), plain and simple.
(and truly Christlike).

The unmitigated hypocrisy! Not only should Homeland Security thank them for exposing such obvious lack of security, think of all the banksters who robbed us blind and didn't serve one, single day!

Ai Wei Wei- Never Sorry

What manner of man is Ai Wei Wei... someone who can resurrect as lame and tired a gesture as giving the finger into a fresh and provocative symbol of both hope and defiance. I have to admit, I really didn't know shit about Ai Wei Wei before this movie and he's probably definitely the most important artist in the world today if only because he's inspiring an entire country (and audience worldwide) by directly challenging a corrupt, authoritarian  political system. And art could have no greater or more noble cause to validate and exclaim its very existence. What he makes clear is that you cannot separate the two, you cannot have one without the other, for art is the fullest expression of individual and collective freedom.

And he risks his life and safety in that very cause... 

"Generations From Now..."

"...we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment the rise of the oceans began to slow." -- Barack Obama (upon winning the Democratic nomination)

Of course, that will be a long time after they rise faster and farther once he signs the tar sands pipeline deal- a very long time well after he's President. Meanwhile, we don't have to look too far in the present to witness his most recent cave, when he nodded his approval of deep sixing Eric Schneiderman, the rare investigator/prosecutor anxious to nail the big banks who have become addicted to nailing common citizenry to the wall.

President Obama can slam dunk any Republican rival when it comes to intelligence or oratory- and yet we have to pray and close our eyes that he completes so much as a simple lay up come game time. Generations from now will ask why the President elected to do so many of the things the world so desperately needed, allowed their world to degrade yet further into its death throes.

Alan Grayson- What Sanity Sounds Like...

My god! Is this even physically possible? Can, not one, but two people who speak truth to power occupy The House at the same time?!?

Pro-Working Man Politico?!?!

Didn't think any such oxymoron could ever actually exist in this country anymore! Watch Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero outfox FOX talking head, leaving a bloody, dazed and confused right wing pundit in his wake. What we would accomplish with a few hundred more of these guys- or just one of them to replace this ball-less wonder...

Avenue Patrice Lumumba- Guy Tillims

I suppose everyone has seen at least one of the now familiar post Chernobyl crisis photo essays. Abandoned office and apartment buildings, vacant playgrounds and classrooms, and everywhere the eerie presence of loss and decay. And as eerie as those photos are, now imagine the same apocalyptic environment- except with the haphazard presence of its still living occupants.

The cities and streets of Avenue Patrice Lumumba have not been cursed with the invisible poison of radioactivity, but with the dreaded legacy of colonial and post colonial rule and interference. This is what countries, cities and towns look like when they have been stripped of their resources, both natural and human for centuries on end, denied of even the very hope that a Patrice Lumumba died trying to revive and instill.

Guy Tillman's photographs very tellingly depict those ghost lands of heart, mind and soul, where history continues to overwhelm the present and undermine that yet to come. For more on Lumumba (incl the excellent movie), the man who could've prevented today's turmoil in Congo see: here, here, and here.

Love It the Most to Say the Least...

It's not that I don't particularly like this tribute to Muntadhar al-Zeidi in Iraq, it's just that I can't help thinking what the American version in the National Mall would look like...

UpDate: Alas, the shoe no longer is...

El Camino del Rey

I recently posted on what a grand adventure doing Bolivia's Road of Death would be- but this is one I have no such "romance" for whatsoever. Why the former and not the latter? Besides the more obvious, in your face confrontation with acrophobia that the latter provides, it also presents one with little more photographic opportunity than some apprehensive point of view shots, and a few picture postcard scenics. The ends just don't justify the means in my book...

The Gulabi Gang

Here comes one bad band o' sisters in pink who've decided to do their part towards dispensing some small measure of home grown justice towards making ignorant, arrogant idiots think twice.

Read about the Gulabi Gang here, and if you can, help make the film a reality.

Update: Another bad band of sisters! (via PhotographyLot)

Soldiers of Conscience

This powerful documentary introduces us to some of the bravest, most honorable individuals ever to don the uniform- and known as conscientious objectors. More, here and here...

Sanity & Reason v Fear & Emotion

Guess which side of the equation the Republicans are on! Guess which team Americans will support!

As smart and charismatic as Obama is, unless he wakes up and realizes he's in a street fight, he's gonna go down in flames a la: Carter, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry...

Republicans got this down cold- appeal to the most basic, primitive fears and emotions and you got 'em by the short hairs each and every time!!!

Man On Wire

One hazy, dog day, August morn some 34 years ago, an incredibly skilled madman, artiste and athlete extraordinaire (Philippe Petite) performed a feat I did not have words for then, or now. Man On Wire captures the events that led up to the event in bank caper, thriller like narrative that makes one marvel at how utterly beyond all odds it was to even stage the event, let alone consummate it....

Actually, it's reminiscent of the ancient Greek classics where the gods command yet another hapless human with an impossible task at a mystical venue of their choosing somewhere between heaven and earth- this time the mortal was anything but, and it was his turf as much as theirs.

Le Tour de France!

Le Tour de France, one of sports most grueling, competitive events, commenced this weekend. I ride my bike almost daily since I moved to San Francisco- took me a good three months to "get my legs" to go up the damn hills here. Previous to that I would fake that my bike broke down mysteriously at the base of every hill as I'd curse and push it all the way up- until the fateful day I finally realized I was actually pedaling uphill! I had always viewed boxing as the ultimate test of training, self discipline and endurance- until I got on a bike in this hilly town. One round in boxing can be like battling death itself, but so is riding up a mountain, whether it's the Pyrenees or the goddamn Alps for Chrissakes, for days... and weeks!

BTW- Three independent labs that tested urine from Floyd Landis (above), the same sample that tested positive by the French lab which has admitted to botching protocol and contaminating samples, testified at the arbitration hearing that they found it as non-positive- doesn't that mean that (contrary to popular opinion) maybe, just maybe, there's a chance that this man might have been unjustly stripped of his Tour de France win (and livelihood) in 2006?

Now this is where it gets really weird- Alberto Contador, the winner of the 2007 Tour de France, is banned from defending his title this year because... the team that he signed with immediately after last year's Tour win was later banned from this year's Tour (as of this Feb) for a violation they originally committed in 2006! And you thought riding up a mountain was crazy!

Brian Steidle- Unsung American Hero

Just finished watching the aptly named documentary, The Devil Came on Horseback in which Brian Steidle was witness to the genocide that is still Darfur. Not a photographer by profession, he fell victim to the heartfelt theory that his photographic documentation would actually stop the unabated killing in that miserably isolated part of the world. Unwilling to settle for the lip service he initially received and "get on with (his own) life," he remains dedicated to publicizing, educating and somehow, someway helping put an end to that unfettered slaughter of innocents.

More info, photos, etc... please write a letter (a simple gesture for life on this holiday weekend)!

The Save Darfur Coalition

Gary Webb- American Patriot

Think that our current don't rock the boat, follow the leader corporate media is a direct legacy of the W regime? Think again.

Gary Webb was a journalist for the San Jose Mercury News who in 1996 came out with a series of articles entitled Dark Alliance (later to be a book) detailing the Contra-CIA-Cocaine connection- the latter's ultimate destination, the streets of LA. For his remarkable effort in researching and bringing to light this illegal, clandestine operation originally blessed by President Reagan himself, Webb was at first belittled, and then effectively silenced in the prestiges pages of The Washington Post, The LA Times, The NY Times, etc, etc and was eventually forced to resign from The San Jose Mercury News. Jerry Seapost, the executive editor who helped bury him, was awarded with an ethics award (yes, you read right) from no less than The Society of Professional Journalists even though in 1998 the CIA was forced to admit its active participation in the Contra-Cocaine Connection. Webb, instead of being vindicated, congratulated and celebrated, was effectively banned from making a living in his chosen profession. He died of a self inflicted gun shot wound in 2004.

Winter Soldier

For those who really want to know what's going on in Iraq and Afghanistan- not from the generals, pundits, and Pentagon talking heads, but from the soldiers on the fronline...

Kirk Johnson- True American Hero

Kirk Johnson stands tall in a country led by cowards, liars and the lowest of the absolute low... 'Nuff said.

Bible Story

Sometimes, most of the times, it's hard to remember that there are actual, real live saints walking amongst us...