North Carolina revolts!, a photo from North Carolina, South

Photographer's Note

Since March 2013, protestors have been gathering each Monday in Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, to voice their concerns and objections to the changes the Republican-controlled legislative session has been passing.

With the recent passage of what is now considered "the most repressive voting legislation" in the past half century in the entire United States, the protests have started to spread throughout the state.

Called "Moral Mondays," the most recent protest was in my own town of Asheville and featured a number of powerful speakers, most notably, Rev Barber, president of the North Carolina NAACP. The protest drew a crowd estimated to be between 7,500 - 10,000 -- quite a lot for a little mountain town.

What is happening in North Carolina is now making national headlines both for the sheer lunacy of the new legislation, as well as for its regressive nature. The New York Times has written two editorials under the headline, "The Decline of North Carolina."

Inevitably, our situation has become fodder for the comedians, most notably on the extremely popular "Daily Show with Jon Stewart."
That same night (August 5th) North Carolina's new legislation was once again the hot topic. The show can be seen @ http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/mon-august-5-2013-neal-thompson (the North Carolina story begins @ minute 6:29)

Polls show that 4/5 North Carolinians disagree with and are embarrassed by the lunacy of this legislation -- sentiments that are beautifully summed up in this protestor's poster.

Categories for this shot should be both "humorous" as well as now (sadly) "daily life."

AROBN54, frunchy, delpeoples has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

serp2000 (47063) 2013-08-07 6:09

Hi, Kristin, good morning!

Amazing social-politic report from North Carolina, excellent journalist work. I like this illustration of your note.
Best wishes,
Serghei

AROBN54 (11475) 2013-08-07 7:30

Perfectly caught, Kristin....
Great in technical aspects and a good statement politically. How DO they get by with passing laws the residents of NC do NOT want? And just who ARE they working for? I love the Daily Show, btw... :)) Nicely done! Many thanks and kind regards,
Shelly

mrmike1935 (4781) 2013-08-07 8:13 [Comment]

Show Comment

snunney (130967) 2013-08-07 8:18

Hello Kristin,
Good documentary image. Perfect framing and well presented with good colours and sharpness.

frunchy (1800) 2013-08-07 8:55

Hello Kristin,

a very depressing subject. I've been reading a bit about this on the net, and i have to say, IT IS VERY DEPRESSING WHAT IS GOING ON THERE! The sheer fact that this legislation could pass in NC makes me wonder...

TFS, F.

holmertz (92932) 2013-08-07 11:41

Hello Kristin,
Luckily I happened to know a bit about this before, and I also googled around a bit to find out more, but your note doesn't actually say what the NC Congress has been doing. It's a good photo, pleasantly different from the pretty views that dominate TE, and it wxpresses very well the anger of your note. It also makes me wonder if the US can really, really, claim to be a democracy. Most European countries are not perfect by any means, but we don't have to register to use our rights as citizens and we get our voting cards delivered by mail several weeks before elections. Anything else would be unthinkable. I am sorry, but sometimes (quite often) I think the US is crazy :-)
Kind regards,
Gert

EstudioChispa (2182) 2013-08-07 13:06

Here's your grand! ;-)

By complete happenstance (and by my error-prone counting), this critique and these two points should get you to 1,000. CONGRATULATIONS! It's a milestone you have earned!

I like this shot due to the balance of clutter and clarity. Both loweer corners feature a jumble of faces and heads, but the gentleman in the middle is isolated and clear. The greenery on the left is a nice balance to the man's sign.

And NC may have a ways to go before it is in the same league as Texas' Neanderthal policies. *shaking my head in shame*

Again, all my best!

Russ
Austin, Texas

dr38 (373) 2013-08-07 14:09

STOP!!!!
Hey Kristin
Sorry for my late reaction. I visited sone pictures of you. I would like that, one day you can visit Turkey and take pictures like this beatifull pictures. Have a nice evening.
Arzu

Sergiom (117241) 2013-08-08 5:28

Bonjour Kristin,

La pancarte que tient cet homme dit tout ce qu'il y a � dire de cette situation qui est tr鋊 g瘽ante pour les gens quelque peu 憝olu廥 qui vivent dans cette r嶲ion ou le retour � l'殟e de pierre soit le sujet favori des r廧ublicains r彋rogrades.

Amicalement

Serge

mjw364 (1466) 2013-08-09 4:11

Hello Kristin

No wonder people are protesting given the issues. What amazes me though is that generally we live under an illusion of democracy in all countries tolerating the narcissistic personality disorders of so called "leaders" who time and time again are proven to be little more than power hungry, greedy and pathetic people.

As for calling the US crazy... the UK and other European countries are no different or better though it strikes me that we are politically apathetic as well as conservative these days... too much to lose... like the "freedom" to consume, oh and vote for the aforementioned of course...

TFS

Mike

delpeoples (60326) 2013-08-12 4:35

Gidday dear Kristen

We get the Daily Show and Colbert Report here in Aus, but a lot of the jokes are in-jokes for those in the know. So your note makes it a little clearer. I always thought it was Texas that was the butt of all jokes, but you have clarified things a little for me and the next time I switch on the telly, I'll bear the shenanigans of the Nth Caro legislature in mind. We've got the Federal Elections happening in September and like everywhere else in the world, it seems to be a choice between Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. Even our Labor Party have turned into a bunch of turncoat populist right-wingers. They say a country gets the leader it deserves, it's enough to make me want to move to New Zealand :) Anyway, enough of the daily rant, thanks for keeping us abreast of local politics.

Have a lovely evening
Lisa