What is Law? What is Order?

In parallel American worlds, the law works for some and against others. In fact, under “qualified immunity,” extrajudicial killings are a myth. Order means control and oppression. In the clean and orderly world of “law and order” racism doesn’t exist, and “all lives matter.” Indeed, to point out euphemistically, that racism exists, causes great controversy in certain social circles. Just watch how the VP of this nation struggled against saying the three words, “Black Lives Matter.”

I still remember the outrage Colin Kaepernick generated when he kneeled during the National Anthem before football games. He was punished harshly for using his platform to protest police brutality. He was cursed out by the sitting president and accused of disrespecting the flag and our troops in America! America, where freedom of speech is our constitutional right. But, Mr. Kaepernick’s message was obliterated by politics, hate speech, and the very racism he was protesting.

People seem sympathetic to police officers that get killed in the line of duty. Yet, it upsets us when the extrajudicial murder of an unarmed black person results in serious protests. Indeed, today’s ongoing protests mirror the truth: when the state commits extrajudicial murder, there is no law and there is no order. It threatens our sense of security and freedom.

Extrajudicial Killing in America

The truth is, police kill black people in America too often. We hear these extrajudicial murders described as “officer involved shootings.” Sometimes black people mysteriously die in jail, but nobody knows why. In George Floyd’s case, people have often referred to his murder as a “life extinguished.” This euphemism doesn’t respect what happened to him. What happened was an act of grotesque racism. The police officer purposely murdered a black man by suffocating him in front of witnesses during the day. This act of terror seemed designed to strike fear into the hearts of everyone who saw it. While it did do that, it sparked another emotion-outrage.

The officer and his cronies were fired within twenty-four hours, but no arrests were immediately made. Minneapolis erupted in protests and a police precinct burned to the ground. Lawlessness seemed to have begotten lawlessness. Politicians and pundits said they “understood the protesters frustration” but that they shouldn’t destroy property. I don’t really think the protesters are “frustrated.” I suspect they have different feelings.

We condemn these extrajudicial killings when they happen in other countries. Survivors aren’t “frustrated.” We say they are victims of state sanctioned violence. We don’t say we understand because there is nothing to “understand.” When police kill citizens, our government does nothing. The state actors know they won’t face consequences for these extrajudicial killings, so they keep doing it. Because really, who will hold them accountable? The state? Everyone knows the state looks out for itself. We call this “Qualified Immunity.”

Extrajudicial Killing vs. Ideology

When Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020, several witnesses protested and tried to get the officer to stop. He just didn’t listen. Other witnesses took videos of the murder and posted it to social media to bring attention to this casually evil act. Although the officer and his cronies were fired the next day, no arrests were made. Because the state failed to act on behalf of the family of George Floyd, the people took to the streets in protest. At first, the protests were peaceful, but as night fell and the police moved in wearing riot gear, things began to change. It appeared as though the state was punishing the protesters for speaking out about the state’s extrajudicial murder.

Is it that surprising that the protesters responded by fighting back? What is surprising is that on the second night of the protests, the police abandoned their precinct and it was burned to the ground. Protests ...

Pandemics: Before... and After...

Pandemics-Before...fear and mistrust of the government and After...fear and mistrust of the government. Before... watching t.v. and thinking about what a mess everything was and After...watching t.v. and thinking about what a mess everything is-except it feels both real and imaginary. Turn off the t.v. to a sense of foreboding before knowing about the virus. After? Now you know why you have that sense of foreboding. In the time Before...believing that it only happens to other people. After it gets here...believing that it only happens to other people because somehow you’re different? Before...hating math. After... you get it. Everything changes and everything stays the same, except this time it really doesn’t. Life as we know it is “disrupted,” which gives me time to write this article.

Plague Inc. Game-Fun , slightly inaccurate epidemiology

Recently, my son and I started watching a series of documentaries about pandemics. Curiously, this happened right after I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and before the COVID-19 pandemic. To be sure, the biggest takeaways from both were, fear is contagious, people are very resilient and we need all kinds of art to survive in this world. Indeed, Station Eleven literally tells the story about how art brings meaning to people’s lives in the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic. Beyond that, it takes practical art to push back on dangerous misinformation that seems to follow every pandemic.

If you need real world evidence, simply visit the World Health Organization website for informational flyers to post in a classroom or workplace. Not only are the posters informative, they include graphic design. Recently, this became a critical tool in preventing a global outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic disease, Ebola.

Before: Ebola Begins

Of course I remember this epidemic because it originated in a part of the world many of my students know well. While I wasn’t afraid of my students, I was concerned about their well being. Also, Ebola developed in the worst of times. The epidemic was helped along by a war, mistrust of government, cultural norms that helped spread the disease, and lack of resources. Beyond that, misinformation about the illness spread rapidly, which accelerated the transmission of the disease.

With a 67% fatality rate, and high contagiousness, especially for frontline workers, the possibility of a pandemic was real. I remember looking at the outbreak map on the news and feeling very panicked. This was because I could see how easily it could become a pandemic. With the ease of person to person transmission and the frequency of global travel, it was surprising that it was still contained. But, it was that very visual cue that helped me quickly grasp the seriousness of the problem.

After: Ebola Epidemic Continues

Signs explaining Ebola symptoms and causes were an important example of using visual art during a health crisis. When misinformation started to spread about the new disease, people were frightened. Before long, people stopped listening to health officials and this helped spread the disease. With the threat of a terrifying pandemic, health officials had to act fast. Because person to person contact and travel helped spread the disease, communication was critical. Above all, people needed accurate and helpful information.

Visual art that showed signs and symptoms of Ebola helped educate people at airports, and other busy spaces. That, in conjunction with incredible health care responses, and persistent outreach to the most affected people, started to shape the way people thought about the disease. When a trial vaccine became available, it took the same persistence to persuade people to accept it.

After the health officials found ways to educate people about Ebola, that’s when they started to get some advantage against the virus. They continue this outreach to this day. Meanwhile the second largest outbreak in hi...

Pandemics: Before... and After...

Pandemics-Before...fear and mistrust of the government and After...fear and mistrust of the government. Before... watching t.v. and thinking about what a mess everything was and After...watching t.v. and thinking about what a mess everything is-except it feels both real and imaginary. Turn off the t.v. to a sense of foreboding before knowing about the virus. After? Now you know why you have that sense of foreboding. In the time Before...believing that it only happens to other people. After it gets here...believing that it only happens to other people because somehow you’re different? Before...hating math. After... you get it. Everything changes and everything stays the same, except this time it really doesn’t. Life as we know it is “disrupted,” which gives me time to write this article.

Recently, my son and I started watching a series of documentaries about pandemics. Curiously, this happened right after I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and before the COVID-19 pandemic. To be sure, the biggest takeaways from both were, fear is contagious, people are very resilient and we need all kinds of art to survive in this world. Indeed, Station Eleven literally tells the story about how art brings meaning to people’s lives in the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic. Beyond that, it takes practical art to push back on dangerous misinformation that seems to follow every pandemic.

If you need real world evidence, simply visit the World Health Organization website for informational flyers to post in a classroom or workplace. Not only are the posters informative, they include graphic design. Recently, this became a critical tool in preventing a global outbreak of the viral hemorrhagic disease, Ebola.

Before: Ebola Begins

Of course I remember this epidemic because it originated in a part of the world many of my students know well. While I wasn’t afraid of my students, I was concerned about their well being. Also, Ebola developed in the worst of times. The epidemic was helped along by a war, mistrust of government, cultural norms that helped spread the disease, and lack of resources. Beyond that, misinformation about the illness spread rapidly, which accelerated the spread of the disease.

With a 67% fatality rate, and high contagiousness, especially for frontline workers, the possibility of a pandemic was real. I remember looking at the outbreak map on the news and feeling very panicked. This was because I could see how easily it could spread due to person to person contact and global travel. But, it was that very visual cue that helped me quickly grasp the seriousness of the problem.

After: Ebola Epidemic Continues

Signs explaining Ebola symptoms and causes were an important example of using visual art during a health crisis. When misinformation started to spread about the new disease, people were frightened. Before long, people stopped listening to health officials and this helped spread the disease. With the threat of a terrifying pandemic, health officials had to act fast. Because person to person contact and travel helped spread the disease, communication was critical. Above all, people needed accurate and helpful information.

Visual art that showed signs and symptoms of Ebola helped educate people at airports, and other busy spaces. That, along with persistent outreach to the most affected people, started to shape the way people thought about the disease. When a trial vaccine became available, it took the same persistence to persuade people to accept it.

After the health officials found ways to educate people about Ebola, that’s when they started to get some advantage against the virus. They continue this outreach to this day. Meanwhile the second largest outbreak in history is occurring in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the fatality rate hasn’t changed. Although six years has passed since the 2014 epidemic, certain practices persistently prevent the spread of d...

Why Bring Up Gun Deaths On an Art Blog?

What’s the point of talking about gun deaths on a teacher art blog? Being an artist and an educator presents special challenges. On one hand, I have to look for inspiration for my artwork in any way I can. On the other hand, I need to stay informed about local politics and school issues. I happen to live at ground zero for the gun debate.

With the death of Michael Brown, many people questioned how it could be acceptable for a police officer to shoot and kill an unarmed black man without consequences. Furthermore, St. Louis has a high homicide rate resulting from gun deaths. Keep in mind that Missouri has some of the most lax gun laws in the country. Not only that, this state recently made headlines around the world for its legal maneuvers to block women’s reproductive rights. All of these issues matter. They matter because they impact people’s lives and can be a matter of life or death. I see and feel the effects of these issues every day. In short, these issues impact my life, so they impact my art.

Who Should Have the Guns?

Let’s start with a multiple choice question: Who’s the scariest person with a gun pointed at you?

1. Police Officer

2. Teacher

3. Woman

4. Man

5. Child

6. All of the above

If you answered “6” give yourself a gold star! Getting a gun pointed at you should always be scary, right? Yet, in America, we have the right to bear arms. In fact, right here in Missouri, the state legislature wants to put a gun in the hand of at least one teacher in every school to “protect” the children. If you’re as confused as I am, that’s OK. I work in a high school and have been a teacher for seventeen years. Quite frankly, I don’t want to imagine the prospect of a gun on the premises, especially because of how stressful my job can get sometimes. I think taking yoga classes and giving teachers free classroom supplies is a better solution.

The Second Amendment

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Gun Deaths

So, the gun death rate in the U.S. is much higher than other nations. It’s not the highest in the world, but it is much higher than other developed nations. We top out at 10.6 per 100,000 people as a whole, with certain states driving up the total. In particular, Missouri drives up the total with an especially high rate of 21.7 out of 100,00 people. Specifically, suicides make up six in ten gun deaths: a statistic that should give all of us pause. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, suicides have steadily risen for the last ten years. While school shootings get more media attention, suicides are a growing problem that could be remedied with better gun monitoring systems. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a society that values human life over profit-yet.

When the NRA gained power over our federal government in the 90’s with their lobbying dollars and extreme views, much of the reasonable oversight over weapons use by civilians has stopped. Indeed, it’s unreasonable for the average person to use bombs, nuclear and biological weapons, or dangerous poisons. Contrarily, guns are perfectly acceptable, irregardless of their lethality.

School Shootings

The rise of school shootings and 24 hour media coverage converged during the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Since then, the country has suffered from a paralyzing stasis of pain and numbness. While we watch our friends and children die at the hands of people who can easily acquire weapons that belong on a battle field, not in a classroom. Nothing changes.

Can Teachers Stop Gun Deaths?

That’s the argument for making sure there’s a gun at my school under the proposed Missouri legislation House Bill 1961 better known as the “Keep Our Schools Safe Act.” Even though Missouri is one of the states that contributes to our nation’s unusually high gun death rate, the state legislature thinks mo...

Welcome to my gallery of limited edition giclee prints! A Giclee Print is an archival work of art. The print is generated from an original image created by the artist. I create my work digitally. To do this, I hand draw compositions with a stylus and a touch screen tablet using a variety of virtual tools. Despite using virtual tools, I can alter the settings to draw with a variety of media. This gives me control over the marks I make on the artwork. In order to generate a physical artwork, I use Giclee prints. Actually, this is a digital process where the image is transferred onto archival paper using high quality ink. In the end, this creates a work of art that will, when cared for properly, last for years to come.

Featured Collection

Kathleen’s Framed Prints

Famous Art Prints

E-Learning Collection

Gift Store

Station Eleven- The End of the World

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel imagines the end of the world as we know it. Straightaway 99% of the world’s population dies off in a flu pandemic over the course of a week. While humanity flickers out, survivors slowly come to terms with the literal darkness that comes with the death of technology. Because people power every sector we rely on, from cell phone service, to the media, to transportation, to electricity, and the internet; the pandemic exposes the fragility of our infrastructure.

The Collapse

In the midst of a snowstorm in Toronto, famous actor Arthur Leander dies of a massive heart attack while playing King Lear. Meanwhile, a catastrophic flu pandemic begins to spread around the world. Significantly, Arthur’s death is witnessed by child actress, Kirsten, who goes on to survive the pandemic; later named the Georgia Flu. Owing to Kirsten’s somewhat blurry, but warm memories of the theater, she finds herself preserving it in the post-pandemic world. After a traumatic first year and finding herself alone, she eventually starts performing Shakespeare with The Travelling Symphony. In many ways, the story intertwines Arthur’s life from before the flu with Kirsten’s life twenty years after. Equally important are the people in their lives who overlap and connect with a comic book called Station Eleven.

Why Post Apocalyptic Art?

Ordinarily post-apocalypse means right after the apocalypse. Because it’s the end of the world, it’s difficult to imagine the reconstruction of society. Indeed, conceiving beauty in the face of such overwhelming destruction seems impossible. In contrast, Station Eleven focuses on life twenty years after the pandemic, when survivors have generally accepted the new world order. Due to the timeline, it stands to reason that twenty years after the flu pandemic, only healthy people can survive. Consequently, the story can seem idealistic at times despite the fact that the characters face grim circumstances. Frequently the narrative switches between the pre and post flu timeline, revealing the way characters feel about their lives. Throughout the intertwining timelines, objects of importance pass from one character to the next. In particular, a comic book, which shares the name with this novel, Station Eleven, comes into prominence as a symbolic motif.

Station Eleven-The Comic Book

So, the divergent timelines in Station Eleven, both leading up to, and twenty years after the end of the world, form poignant tangents symbolized by the comic book. Despite existing in two sharply contrasting worlds, the artwork in the comic book symbolizes a tenuous connection held together by a broken chain of islands. Actually, the islands are Station Eleven, which escaped to a wormhole in space, getting damaged on the way. Similarly, one can think about the book surviving from one world to next, with its meaning getting distorted as the world dramatically changed. Throughout the novel, this comic book takes on a special significance for several characters. That being said, for each character, the comic book’s meaning changes their world view very differently as time goes by.

In the end, Station Eleven, the comic book, served the characters that needed it. Beginning with the creator, who needed artistic validation, then going on to influence other characters in personal ways; the comic book had a lasting impact. In fact, while it inspired some characters to develop artistically, it also contributed to the rise of a cult. Ultimately, through the actions of a character called “the Prophet,” life and death decisions hinged on ideas inspired, in part, by a comic book.

Survival is Insufficient

Above all, Station Eleven, raises important issues surrounding the strengths and weaknesses of our global infrastructure. For instance, with 99% of the population gone, would it be the end of the world as we know it? Being that we depend on electricity, modern medicine, and...

I am a teacher and I bear witness to school segregation everyday. As we approach 2020, educators play a critical role bearing witness to social and civil rights issues. Despite the fact that segregated schools ended fifty-five years ago, we find schools increasingly more segregated today. Additionally, the conditions in less affluent schools do not equal that of more affluent districts. Much like the past, it takes people who are willing to show the inequity for what it is, to make change happen. In the past, it took Charles Hamilton Houston’s persistent attention to Plessy v Ferguson and the lie of “separate but equal” to lay the groundwork for Brown.

The 1954 Brown v The Board of Education case legally need school segregation when the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that “separate but equal” schools were unconstitutional. In truth, many people in this country opposed the decision and they acted on their opposition by not following the law. This led to protracted civil rights cases designed to integrate schools, especially through desegregation programs and busing. Civil rights activists and lawyers fought and won those cases eventually. Why then, do we see more segregation in schools now than in the 20th century? What impact does this have on our perception of race relations in America today? We can’t ignore the fact that redlining in America played a significant role in defining segregated infrastructure.

Bearing Witness to School Segregation

I teach in urban America in one of the most notoriously racist states in the country: St. Louis, MO. I am not opining, history speaks for itself. Hell, the present, speaks volumes. Undoubtedly, people care about changing the culture here to make it better and more fair for everybody. Yet, the narrative remains, Missouri is a lost cause to institutional racism: a write off not worth the investment. I can see why people think that. Without a doubt, the governing stranglehold held by special interest groups invested in the status quo see no reason to change. Unfortunately, while education offers a critical path to empowerment, the state maintains th status quo. State funding promotes segregation and unequal dispersal of resources. Certainly, we see this in the way segregated neighborhoods receive funding for critical infrastructure projects related to education. Ultimately this perpetuates disenfranchisement among the school districts.

The Economics of School Segregation

As an educator in an urban school district, I bear witness to the inequity of school segregation. For instance, a simple way that students face an onerous burden is through transportation coupled with the state attendance policy. It is important to recognize that transportation and school attendance are related. Both busing and attendance affect the school budget in different ways. To be clear, busing is a designated fund from the state. Attendance is a variable fund based on daily attendance rates and no excuse matters in the state’s percentage calculation.

The Department of Education explicitly states, “Students must be in attendance in an instructional capacity under the direct supervision of a Missouri certificated employee of the district to be counted for attendance for state aid purposes.” Because bus drivers do not hold Missouri instructional certification, they cannot fulfill this requirement. Therefore, transportation efficacy can either positively or negatively impact attendance rates.

Taking a closer look, it becomes more apparent how economic disparity impacts students in education, just based on transportation. The facts bear out that public schools are growing more segregated in the 21st Century. Segregation falls along racial and economic lines. With this in mind, it’s important to remember that busing has been a battleground for racial justice in education since Brown vs. the Board of Education legally ended school segregation in 1954.

The Money Follows the Student

Indeed, Missou...

How often does the art of critical thinking in education get scrutinized by educators?

Teachers, administrators, students, and parents expect critical thinking to be embedded in their school curricula. Yet, defining and determining if students use and demonstrate critical thinking poses challenges. For many years the term, “critical thinking” was used loosely and didn’t really have a definition. That changed in the early 1990’s when a research team worked together to make sense of the concept. According to The Delphi Project:

The ideal critical thinker is habitually inquisitive, well-informed, trustful of reason, open-minded, flexible, fair- minded in evaluation, honest in facing personal biases, prudent in making judgments, willing to reconsider, clear about issues, orderly in complex matters, diligent in seeking relevant information, reasonable in the selection of criteria, focused in inquiry, and persistent in seeking results which are as precise as the subject and the circumstances of inquiry permit.

Teaching in the Information Age.

Now, more than ever, we can access information. However, we face a watershed moment in history where critical thinking seems to be crumbling. Currently, it seems like language fails to meet the complex and rapidly changing phenomena in the world as we know it. So, what exactly does this mean? I am speaking from the perspective as an artist teacher.

Recently, I challenged my students to create a work of art that embodied two opposing, but related concepts. The general idea being that by being more empathetic, they could reduce bullying. Markedly, I required that they address both ideas in the artwork. Despite spending a great deal of time teaching what empathy means, my students truly struggled with this project.

It quickly became apparent that students hadn’t considered the possibility that bullying wasn’t an inevitability. Moreover, they didn’t understand what empathy meant. Because they didn’t hold both of these ideas in their minds as prior knowledge, the project confronted their world view. In fact, for some students, the notion of empathy made them uncomfortable because they failed to fully understand what it meant.

The internet isn’t critical thinking.

Upon facing an academic challenge, the students rallied valiantly! They immediately turned to the internet as a surrogate critical thinker. In the hope that the internet would quickly solve their problem and they could get “done” with the project, they suddenly discovered a problem. Apparently, the internet hasn’t figured out how to end bullying either. Ironically, the one place they turned to to solve the bullying problem is an enclave of bullying. In reality, it’s difficult to imagine the internet taking an interest in working against itself by solving such a profitable problem. (But I digress).

Ultimately, many of the students began to ask questions. After all, if the internet couldn’t think critically for them, they would have to do it for themselves. Of course, the internet still served a purpose in this project. The difference manifested itself in the way the students started approaching their use of the internet. Whereas initially they saw the internet as a surrogate critical thinker, they came to see the internet as a research tool for their own thinking. Fundamentally, this shift mattered because it showed that they were starting to think for themselves.

How can artist teachers enhance critical thinking in the classroom?

In the first place, we can emphasize and encourage students to be “habitually inquisitive.” While this might sound obvious, purposefully teaching students this way isn’t easy. Nevertheless we should ask students to develop their own questions that guide their artistic process. However, for students, this opens an array of possibilities that can be intimidating and overwhelming. Despite this normal reaction, teachers can guide students through this process by modeling our own sense of curios...

What are Crimes Against Humanity? Crime against humanity refers to a category of crimes against international law which includes the most egregious violations of human dignity, especially those directed toward civilian populations. Cornell Law School. Criminal Acts Aren't Justified by "Law". At any given time, we can find ourselves in a moral dilemma. It is important to realize that the choices we make in that moment don't just define us as individuals, but as a society. If we look away from irrefutable evidence of human rights abuses by our own government, we will all bear this shame forever. In fact, we may suffer the same consequences we openly or passively support. Whenever aggressive criminal acts become normalized under the guise of "law," we might not believe they are crimes. The truth is, state sanctioned human rights abuses are illegal and can be prosecuted. Unfortunately, it usually takes catastrophic events to force people to remedy illegal laws. One case that has repeatedly been the target of dispute by neo-fascists, is the holocaust. In order to discredit Jewish people, racist people try to deny the very existence of the genocide that happened during World War II. Even though the mass murder of millions of people at the hands of the Nazis is a matter of public record, people actually try to say it's a hoax. Oddly enough, when the defendants went on trial in Nuremberg, they pled "Not Guilty," but didn't deny their own actions. Propaganda versus the Truth. Unlike today, with the endless quibbling over "alternative facts", people in the past had to record experience to preserve the truth. In the worst of nightmare realities, one photographer, Francesc Boix, risked his life to record the criminal acts of the Nazis. In this case, he didn't have the luxury of looking in from the outside. Rather, he came to the job by living as a skilled slave laborer in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Although tasked with producing propaganda for the Third Reich, he began to collect photographic evidence of the crimes committed there. Recently, Netflix released a film about his life simply titled, The Photographer of Mauthausen. Francesc lived a short, but significant life. The article, Francesc Boix : The Man Who Stole Photographs from the Nazis, features the biography of a man compelled to reveal the truth. Because of his bravery, he made a decision to steal photo evidence of crimes against humanity by the Nazis. Indeed, he disseminated the negatives to multiple sources so they could be collected later. It's important to realize that Mauthausen wasn't just a Concentration camp, it was also an extermination camp. While Francesc had every reason to believe he wouldn't survive, he must have recognized the importance of preserving the photo evidence for possible future account. The Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity. Seventy years ago, prosecutors declared and described crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Military Tribunals. Unequivocal language described murder, slave labor, kidnapping, family separation, illegal deportation, inhumane living conditions, abuse, neglect, and other despicable acts by men acting for the state. No "law" excused the defendants from their criminal acts against humanity. General Telford Taylor used documents written by the defendants, documentary films, written accounts, and photographs in his series of filings against twenty two defendants. The indictment reveals most compelling evidence that the takeover of society started long before World War II. However, the indictments also show evidence of complicity by a society bombarded by aggressive propaganda, unjust laws, and outright racism. Above all, the systematic destruction of truth was a powerful weapon. Frequently, we understand history through the longer lens of time. Yet, when historical evidence, driven by facts, aligns enough with current events, we should pay attention. State Sanctioned Violence. How do you process the concept that the Unite...

What are Crimes Against Humanity? Crime against humanity refers to a category of crimes against international law which includes the most egregious violations of human dignity, especially those directed toward civilian populations. Cornell Law School. Criminal Acts Aren't Justified by "Law". At any given time, we can find ourselves in a moral dilemma. It is important to realize that the choices we make in that moment don't just define us as individuals, but as a society. If we look away from irrefutable evidence of human rights abuses by our own government, we will all bear this shame forever. In fact, we may suffer the same consequences we openly or passively support. Whenever aggressive criminal acts become normalized under the guise of "law," we might not believe they are crimes. The truth is, state sanctioned human rights abuses are illegal and can be prosecuted. Unfortunately, it usually takes catastrophic events to force people to remedy illegal laws. One case that has repeatedly been the target of dispute by neo-fascists, is the holocaust. In order to discredit Jewish people, racist people try to deny the very existence of the genocide that happened during World War II. Even though the mass murder of millions of people at the hands of the Nazis is a matter of public record, people actually try to say it's a hoax. Oddly enough, when the defendants went on trial in Nuremberg, they pled "Not Guilty," but didn't deny their own actions. Propaganda versus the Truth. Unlike today, with the endless quibbling over "alternative facts", people in the past had to record experience to preserve the truth. In the worst of nightmare realities, one photographer, Francesc Boix, risked his life to record the criminal acts of the Nazis. In this case, he didn't have the luxury of looking in from the outside. Rather, he came to the job by living as a skilled slave laborer in the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Although tasked with producing propaganda for the Third Reich, he began to collect photographic evidence of the crimes committed there. Recently, Netflix released a film about his life simply titled, The Photographer of Mauthausen. Francesc lived a short, but significant life. The article, Francesc Boix : The Man Who Stole Photographs from the Nazis, features the biography of a man compelled to reveal the truth. Because of his bravery, he made a decision to steal photo evidence of crimes against humanity by the Nazis. Indeed, he disseminated the negatives to multiple sources so they could be collected later. It's important to realize that Mauthausen wasn't just a Concentration camp, it was also an extermination camp. While Francesc had every reason to believe he wouldn't survive, he must have recognized the importance of preserving the photo evidence for possible future account. The Evidence of Crimes Against Humanity. Seventy years ago, prosecutors declared and described crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Military Tribunals. Unequivocal language described murder, slave labor, kidnapping, family separation, illegal deportation, inhumane living conditions, abuse, neglect, and other despicable acts by men acting for the state. No "law" excused the defendants from their criminal acts against humanity. General Telford Taylor used documents written by the defendants, documentary films, written accounts, and photographs in his series of filings against twenty two defendants. The indictment reveals most compelling evidence that the takeover of society started long before World War II. However, the indictments also show evidence of complicity by a society bombarded by aggressive propaganda, unjust laws, and outright racism. Above all, the systematic destruction of truth was a powerful weapon. Frequently, we understand history through the longer lens of time. Yet, when historical evidence, driven by facts, aligns enough with current events, we should pay attention. State Sanctioned Violence. How do you process the concept that the Unite...