You may ask, “What do these two have in common?” What happened to them changed power relations between citizens and governing bodies forever. Through witnessing the most horrific moments of their lives we learned of the immense power of citizen journalism.
I so vividly remember being frozen in front of the TV as the world watched Rodney King being beaten by LAPD officers, all of it, captured on tape in a bystander’s camcorder. The incident and the aftermath consumed us for years. Fast-forward eighteen years to July 2009, sitting at Starbucks, monitoring the Iranian elections – waiting for news on the internet. I click on a video posted on facebook and witness probably the most haunting and purely powerful images I will ever see. Neda’s last moments on earth will be one of the most memorable images of our lifetime. It will forever symbolize the purity of the human struggle for justice and fairness, for basic human rights. And to think, all this, because someone was close by and pressed a button on a mundane piece of technology.
What started with Rodney King and escalated to the images of Neda’s death signifies a turning of the tables, signifies a power that people have never before had, one that has come to us because of progress (which is why I never understand why some people are against “progressives,” but anyway….) We can now police the government and police the police, and in the most ordinary ways (just a side note, I think government and police are both necessary entities, but it’s up to us to make sure they operate effectively.) Twitter, YouTube, and facebook then allow for this policing to happen instantaneously, by large masses of people. It’s insanely powerful…to witness the truth, without need for a judge and jury to figure out what happened.
Question is, what do we do with this power? The Rodney King incident (and many like it) have come an gone, nobody held accountable, and to be real, nothing much has changed – all the recommendations on policing that were made by experts, well, they’re still just that: recommendations (but, trust me, we’re still trying!) So, what of Neda’s death? Will we be sitting here, twenty years from now, saying the same thing…nothing much has changed? I hope not. I think we have to realize that posting images, tweeting, and updating your facebook status is just the first step. Speaking up is only the first step. Then you have to roll up your sleeve and do something about it to create change. Images are powerful; images are worth thousands of words. But action, that’s what counts in the long run.
I’ll be thinking this weekend of Neda Agha-Soltan, of Rodney King, of Oscar Grant (an unarmed man whose shooting death by BART officers in Oakland was captured on cell phones), of the 74-year-old Texan grandmother (who was seen on tape as she was tasered by an officer for arguing with him). There are countless others. I’ll be thinking of what else we can do to make sure their sacrifice wasn’t in vein.
Great article Niaz! It does however raise an additional question. I have often wondered if the proliferation of instant imagery might just result in an increasingly desensitized population.
ReplyDeleteCertainly media (particularly video) was instrumental in forging many of the Civil Rights era's greatest victories. When television cameras captured marchers and civil rights workers being beaten, kicked, spat upon etc... the images were so shocking they triggered a sense of national shame and outrage. (President Kennedy said when he saw the images of children being attacked in Birmingham it made him physically sick). But now, are we reaching a point where we as a nation have no shame? I wonder, are we seeing people reach a point where they have learned to rationalize all but the most egregious injustices?
This possibility combined with our ever dwindling attention span give me pause... What do you think?
Very good point Kevin. I agree. It's definitely a double edge-sword. Especially I think for kids growing up in this day and age, everything becomes normal. I remember thinking how odd it was, when last year I was watching the aftermath of the Iran elections, when we saw someone get shot or beaten, and the first response was to take out your cell phone and record it. There were some who rushed to help, but it was an odd thing to see the large majority's first reaction was to tape it. But I think we generally live in a culture that is becoming more desensitized. Look at tv reality shows, and talk show. The most outrageous something is, the more it sells and the more people watch it. Maybe that's what we should focus on changing. This for of citizen journalism can produce really graphic images that are hard to watch, but I think if the rest of our media wasn't so focused on shocking viewers this particular issue wouldn't b a problem.
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