Look at the tweet below. Someone said it should be a painting. With that in mind, I doctored it a few ways.
First photo below is the original, the next two, are filtered using Prisma. In the third photo, I double exposed it with one I took on Good Friday in Assisi in 2019.
I am very moved by the picture, and of course — I was raised Catholic. It also reminds me of a ceremony I witnessed in Assisi three years ago, when they ritually removed Christ from the cross in the Cathedral of San Rufino and ceremoniously carried him down the hill to the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis. It was quite an amazing experience.
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I am not the only one to observe that some of our collective response to this crisis surely depends on the fact that Ukrainians are white.
A powerful quote from Trevor Noah. Indeed.
Your photo alterations really do make it look like a painting. Such a sad time for so many.
Echoes – I’ve come here several times debating whether I wanted to open myself to putting down the following words: In the end, I decided to share the hard question I have been asking myself in light of the reports of some of the refugees who have had a harder time leaving Ukraine:
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/mar/02/people-of-colour-fleeing-ukraine-attacked-by-polish-nationalists
I found myself asking a hard question: Did I move quicker to send donations to Ukraine than I did to other catastrophic world events? …I honestly hope that I did not. Refugee is not a word that should see skin color nor is immigrant.
Thanks for the link Marti. I’d been sent it by others but not read it til now. Very disheartening. I asked the same of myself in terms of the impulse to help Jose Andrés’ effort (if I were young, etc) because I didn’t feel the same impulse during Haiti or PR’s crisis. Worth looking at.
First the Orange Head Maniac .. followed by a what seems like never ending pandemic and now this. My head is spinning.. honestly I couldn’t put into words how I feel.. what I think. I’m too thinking about what Trevor said .. and I believe it’s truer than many of us want to believe. 😥 I’m sooo tired of it all!!
Dee I have noticed the lack of mittens .. I’m finding that so interesting.
I have been struck by the difference in response to this refugee crisis compared to the response to those who have sought refuge from across the Mediterranean …
Yes. I keep thinking about how botched our response to Puerto Rico was too
I find this trend of media posts of “you only care because they are white” disturbing. Some how I have a feeling Putin won’t receive BLM any better than dumpfy did.
It’s not about Putin’s reception but ours. Absolute kudos to you, btw, for launching such an impressive art effort to support Ukraine. Really sterling.
Thanks Dee. I have Ukrainian friends and it’s very upsetting seeing what is happening to their homeland. It’s not just theirs they are protecting but ours as well.
Absolutely.
One last thought and I will zip it. In saying “they are only concerned because they are white” is the equivalent to “all lives matter” it does work both ways.
No need to zip it.
I’ve heard “all lives matter” said in reactionary, hostile attempts to erase attention paid to racism, leading some to say that “the denial of racism is itself racism.” And of course if all lives truly mattered, there’d never be a need to say Black Lives Matter.
To float the question and look inward a little to see if there is any disparity in how we treat refugees based on skin color is valid and worthwhile. I don’t know the answer, but I think the question is worth asking.
It’s fairly clear that the responses to the Ukrainians come from a heart-centered desire to help a people besieged by an unjust war. That can be true AND there can be some not-so-wholesome responses to Black people at the Polish border.
Also, if 2MM Syrians were flooding into Europe, do we really think the response would be the same? I know many, many Syrians were welcomed in the past. Germany, in particular, offered many asylum. Maybe someone more knowledgeable about that should speak to it.
Anyway, I encourage anyone reading this who wants to help Ukrainians to go to your Instagram feed and consider buying one of your portraits of Zelensky. The way you respond to issues of social justice in your art has always blown me away.
Can you give us the instagram page for Ginny and her artwork
https://instagram.com/virginiamallon?utm_medium=copy_link
thankyou
Great post I hope you are encouraged by my post. https://austingreenj1633.com/2022/04/15/why-is-it-a-good-friday/
Thank you for your comment, Austin and good luck with your blog.