| Over
the almost 9 years of producing BlackCommentator.com we
have learned a couple of things about political cartoons.
Images are very different from words because they call on
the observer to provide their own interpretation.
The
expression "a picture is worth a thousand words"
is not exactly correct because that many words can deliver
a very strong and specific message.
Several
of our toons have either been misunderstood or not understood
at all. Therefore, we offer the following explanation.
We
don't know what thoughts the Politician Magician animated
cartoon provoked in your mind, but here's what we were thinking
in the BC creative session when it was
developed.
By
using the Democratic Donkey and the bottom of the Obama
Hope poster, the first image is the easiest to figure out.
It represents the Democratic Party and Barack Obama together
offering us hope.
When
capitulation is added to hope the result is painful. The
anguish of capitulation is represented by a tortured American
Eagle. The national bird can easily be seen as symbol for
the United States. Additionally, did you figure out that
the injury is a missing "left" wing? This missing
appendage is a commentary that we do not have a movement
for social justice, economic justice and peace now and have
not had one for several decades.
When
capitulation follows hope, the result is painful.
We
used the word capitulation because it is accurate. If someone
compromises at the beginning of a struggle and does this
over and over again it can not be considered an art - it
is an act of cowardice - a surrender.
The
victims of empty promises, mediocre action and cowardice
become hopeless.
Hopelessness
is manifested in many ways in the USA including an unacceptable
school dropout rate and low voter turnout.
The
final line in the cartoon, "What is the sound of one
wing flapping?", is a takeoff on a famous Zen koan
(philosophical riddle) which, according to Serge Kahili
King,
"asks,
'What is the sound of one hand clapping?' The student
of Zen is supposed to meditate on this riddle until some
degree of insight or enlightenment occurs. The tricky
part is that there is no right answer. What you are, or
what you know, or what you believe, is what you get."
We
at BlackCommentator.com are challenged to play a part of
the creation of a new movement for social justice, economic
justice and peace. Please support us with your readership.
Thank you.
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