Category: Politics

Out of Tragedy Change Can Spring Forth

Bill Mack
December 21, 2012
ExpectationsPolitics
Bill Mack

My brother Bill Mack

Twenty-Four years ago today my brother Bill was murdered when Libyan terrorists blew up Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. His spirit still lives within many people. His love of life and infectious laugh I can still hear. And I know his presence in my life has guided me many times over the last 24 years. He was returning from a trip with Liz Marek on a vacation to London. The day is one of those which is frozen in place. Yet I know good can come out of bad. I was part of the family organization which sprang up right after the bombing. We worked to change the airline laws, push the government to find out who was responsible and then pushed through many channels including Congress, the Whitehouse and the United Nations to get those responsible to a trial. Changes can be made.

This week’s news out of Newtown, Connecticut struck close to home for many reasons. Liz Marek’s family lives in the next town over. And in all tragedies such as this I am immediately struck by the feeling of being back there on the wrong side of a news story. My heart goes out to those who have lost family and friends. And to those who helped the victims’ families and all who are affected by this event.

The call for changes in the laws need to be met by all of us speaking out. Change can come from tragedy. We can get a ban on assault weapons and bullets. We can get better healthcare for those who need it and not have it be so difficult or so expensive that you cannot get the health services you need. But we must all stand up for what we believe in. Write your Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen and tell them what you believe and that you won’t support them if they don’t write a series of laws to help prevent this in the future. We can all post in blogs and in tweets but that will not change things. Support the organizations in Washington working for the change in gun laws and healthcare. If your representative to Congress doesn’t tell them they will not get your vote in the future. Attend a rally. Be vocal. And work by lobbying from your point of view. Perception is that large groups with lots of money always win in Washington. Not always. But we must be louder and yes, make the politicians think they won’t keep their jobs if they don’t actually represent those who elected them. That is what change is about. I was privileged to work with many amazing people as we worked for change.

Liz Marek & Bill Mack

Liz Marek & Bill Mack

I honored Bill & Liz by working for change. We were on the right side of the issue. We as a country are on the right side of the issues facing us now. May change take place – so those murdered in Newtown will be honored in the same way.

May Peace Prevail,

Richard

 

Remembering at Arlington – Pan Am Flight 103

December 24, 2008
Editorial PhotographyPoliticsseeing

Holding Hands - by Ken Cedeno

On December 21st, about 500 folks gathered at Arlington Cemetery, the site of the National Memorial Cairn, a gift from the people of Scotland to the United States honoring the 270 victims of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland twenty years ago. It was a time to come together and gather as one, even if in several places, as we did simultaneously in Lockerbie and at Syracuse University, where 35 students were lost on that fateful day, along with those of us gathered at Arlington. It was a time to remember our loved ones, locked in time twenty years back and wonder what lives they might have lead if allowed to. It was a time to remember what we did, as a group of ordinary citizens, to change the way this country and the world looks at terrorism. We passed laws to make the skies safer, to allow victims of terrorist actions to bring legal actions against the country which sponsors such actions, we pressed the US and British governments to find the evidence to convict those responsible, and then had to press the United Nations to bring the most severe sanctions in it’s history against Libya, for their responsibility until they turned over those indicted. It turns out we have fought these fights for twenty years, and sadly we are not done, now enduring yet another appeal on behalf of Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, the only Libyan Secret Service Agent convicted under Scottish law. At one point we were told our group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 (www.victimsofpanamflight103.org) was second in power only to the NRA. There was a component to the weekend of coming together to remember all of our work and exchange stories of how we did what we did, and where we all our today. I am no longer actively involved with the group, having left the board and stepping down as President in the mid 90’s. But many have carried on since then and will continue in the future.

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There is no way to tell the story of what we have been through. And yet, a friend of mine, a fellow photographer, now based in Washington and covering the Capital and White House among other things, has captured images from that afternoon at Arlington. They convey the emotions and feelings of that cold afternoon. Ken Cedeno (www.kencedeno.com) worked for me in Chicago at the time of the disaster. He called to say he was bringing a gift over to us when my wife told him it might not be the best time. Over the following year he saw first hand what one goes through after a disaster like this. He volunteered to cover the anniversary event on his own. As I have said, he did a magnificent job. There is a reason he is one of the finest editorial photographer’s working today. I think you can see in his imagery the power of the day, the emotions, the capturing of the moment. Having been there I can also hear the words spoken, the bag pipes and taps being played by the military trumpeter. To me this is editorial photography at its finest. All I can say is a big thank you to Ken for covering the event. You have given us all a wonderful way to remember the spirit of the day.

Peace,

Richard Mack

 

To see a more extensive collection of the images from Arlington use this link:

http://kencedeno.com/PanAm103/index.html All images on this post are copyrighted by Ken Cedeno.

2008_12_21_103_lockerbie_0525.jpg

ORPHANS WORKS BILL MUST BE DEFEATED!

November 19, 2008
PoliticsQuiet Light Publishing

Lincoln Memorial

Once again, and in that spirit I talked about last time of getting political, there is no better time nor cause for photographers or publisher’s to make their voices heard over than the Orphans Works bill in the House and Senate. Very powerful lobbying groups have pushed this cause to the detriment of individual artists, be they photographers, painters, illustrators, writers, poets, film or video producers or musicians.

YOUR WORK IS ON THE LINE! Your copyright will not stand much ground if this bill is passed by the Congress. They have come back into a lame-duck session and while they say they won’t bring this up again there is also talk of killing the entire Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, where this issue currently is in debate. Then it would be taken up again by the full Judiciary Committee, where it was hatched many months ago.

Why do we need to abolish this bill? Because, it will take away your copyright protections without any due process. If some says they tried to find out who the artist was, they will be protected. How can we prove that?!? We will also be required to not just register our images with the copyright office, but also pay to have them listed with some new company – and this will be fee based depending on the number of images in the case of photographers.

To see the news release from the Advertising Photographers of America (APA) and the Illustrators Partnership use this link: OrphanWork.

Then write your congress person and Senators. But do it NOW! It will only take a few minutes and you can follow the links on the APA & Illustrator partnership pages to get it done in minutes – they even have the letters written for you – which you can customize to your liking.

Do it now, before you loose your rights.

Obama Euphoria

November 11, 2008
ObamaPoliticsQuiet Light Publishing

Obama Sign in Paris 

It has been a week since the election, and the Barak Obama euphoria may have worn of only slightly, but it has been replaced by the hope for which he so eloquently spoke of during his campaign. I have seen it in the faces of my friends, I have heard it when a car pulls up to me at a stop light and say’s “nice sticker – glad we won – I am so happy!”,  I have heard it from waiters in the heart of Tennessee. Of course I have also heard the opposite side, how could you support a Muslim! Yes, I have actually heard that more than once. Ignorance I can’t understand. But I’ve also heard very encouraging words from some folks who voted for McCain.

I knew this election was about something special when I was travelling in Patagonia earlier this year and several people asked, “Is the US read to elect a woman or a black man?” And in September my wife and I were walking the streets of Paris and saw the above image of Obama used in an ad for the French news station. And once again, we were asked, “Are you ready?”

But that euphoria, that wonderful feeling we all felt last Tuesday night, still feel today, if you are an Obama supporter anyway and maybe a little bit even if you weren’t, must now be put into the actions we all are hoping for. I believe that last Tuesday, most of us were still only hoping for a win by Obama, yet the last two elections hung heavy on us and we wondered, can we do it? So, as the polls closed and it became clear we had elected someone new, we had voted for change, we had beaten those who mostly talked in scare tactics and anger and meanness. So it was natural for us to be euphoric. And I watched it unfold from my home in Evanston, a Chicago suburb and most definitely an Obama town.

We ended up staying home – not going to Grant Park, since the expected crowd was to be 1 million. But the noise around here at 11 was great. I think we were more excited than if the Cubbies had actually won the World Series! Of course that may be in great part to the sea change everyone is hoping for in our political and historical place in history. I think the majority of folks, slim as it may be, truly believe we can be a better people. We can be better participants in the world. We can leave this place better than we found it. It is that hope which I believe spilled into the streets and parks in downtown and in various suburbs all across America last night. It is that spirit in which we bask this morning. And I believe it is that spirit which will bring people together to actually do some of the hard work, both in Congress and in our own towns to solve the problems we face today. It is now the time to ask what you can do for your country, whether it is working for change by writing to Congressional leaders, working in neighborhood organizations or working one on one with folks to make things better. It is now our time. Let’s make it happen.

 

Peace,

Richard