To be completely honest, I don’t typically involve myself in anything political, and have always kept an out of sight, out of mind mentality along the way. But, with that said, I’ve also had the strong urge to question everything and always think for myself which I recommend for everyone. As I’ve watched events unfold throughout the past few months it has been quite eye-opening and at times shocking.
I am a photojournalist and at times feel the need to document certain things I come across and the other day I happened to be listening to the radio and kept hearing about the protests going on at LAX about the travel ban issue. It was one of those situations where having the ability to make it out there to see what it was like first hand was all I wanted to do as soon as I started thinking about it. I wanted to see what was going on, I wanted to feel the power of the people fighting for their own reasons and I wanted to document a moment in history.
The people that were there were White, Black, Muslim, Asian, Mexican, and most importantly…human. This is a situation more about humanity, and less about politics. There has to be a point where people realize that and put their own personal feelings aside and accept things for the way they are. The people are speaking, the people are voicing their opinions in staggering numbers all across the country.
The one thing that everyone needs to do is simply put themselves in the position of the person trying to make their way to America for a better life, better opportunity and a safer land to call home. I can’t imagine anyone having a real conversation with a refugee and walk away still thinking they shouldn’t be allowed to come to America.
I wanted to share these images to spread the word of the people. The people that are actually in the streets, living this fight. Not the ones sitting at home watching the news after enjoying a nice meal with their loved ones. But the ones dedicating their time and energy fighting to be heard. If anything, I hope that someone is affected or moved enough by any one of these images to think twice.
Is seeing things from another persons perspective that difficult? Have we really lost touch so much so that we can turn a blind eye to incredibly fucked up situations happening right in front of us? If anything, this is a reminder to question everything. Remember to think twice, and to realize that at the end of the day, we will all be nothing more than a pile of bones in the ground and a distant memory to certain loved ones if we are lucky. Feel free to share this, and spread the word.
