Where will he go next, this phantom from another time, this resurrected ghost of a previous nightmare – Chicago? Los Angeles? Miami, Florida? Vincennes, Indiana? Syracuse, New York? Anyplace, everyplace, where there’s hate, where there’s prejudice, where there’s bigotry. He’s alive. He’s alive so long as these evils exist. Remember that when he comes to your town. Remember it when you hear his voice speaking out through others. Remember it when you hear a name called, a minority attacked, any blind, unreasoning assault on a people or any human being. He’s alive because through these things we keep him alive.
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| — | Rod Serling, “He’s Alive” |
“The violence of colonialism and white supremacy continues, writing itself onto buildings, over murals, onto bodies and the land, and into the laws – and the enforcement of them – of our countries. #AllLivesMatter is a form of this violence and cannot be ignored, cannot be condoned, cannot continue.“
Radio Blue Heart presents TALES FROM THE PUBLIC DOMAIN!
Episode 67: The Hangman
A short film using limited animation, “The Hangman” is based on a poem written by Maurice Ogden in 1951 and published in 1954. This was a time when the wounds left by the Holocaust were still fresh and time in America when McCarthyism brought a new wave of fascism and tyranny.
It was inspired by the famous quote by Martin Niemöller:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”
Its about how fascism and tyranny thrive when apathy grows. When good people stand by and do nothing while other good people are robbed of their rights and lives. The Hangman claims victim after victim, his power overshadowing justice, while people do nothing to stop him.
npr:
A young British girl unwraps a package from her mum — a stuffed animal. The child’s face breaks into a smile. But after this moment, her life in a war-torn London is stark: She gets a serving of gruel, reads in the dark, tries to keep warm with a cigarette lighter — then narrowly escapes a bombing, nearly drowns and is separated from her mother, who sacrifices her spot on a tugboat so her daughter can flee.
The 1 minute, 34 second video — “Still the Most Shocking Second a Day” — has amassed over 314,500 views in the five days since Save the Children released it. It’s the sequel to their 2014 viral video, “The Most Shocking Second a Day.” The ads, created by the global charity to raise awareness and funds for the Syrian refugee crisis, have gathered a ton of attention, both negative and positive, for using a British girl – not a Syrian girl — as the main character, and London – not Damascus or Aleppo or any other Syrian city – as the setting.
Are You More Sympathetic Because She’s British, And Not Syrian?
Photo: Save the Children
