Let Freedom Ring

BY: Jes Zurell

Photography holds the world accountable to itself. It is the mirror into which society gazes with admiration and regret, with pain and with joy. Photographers, even in the age of Photoshop, call societies out on their bullshit, and offer a voice to the mute. This is where John Moore creates his most impactful work, and we’re strongly urging you to give it a few minutes of your time.

His photography documents the daily despair that drenches the southern border of the United States, and humanizes the lives that conservative news outlets would prefer to leave out, as though applying paint thinner to uncomfortable subjects was a natural part of their whitewashing.

This Independence Day, everyone will tell you to go ahead and get comfortable. Stretch out and relax. Crack open a Bud Light or seven, because today is the day when God blesses Americans by helping them forget–not remember–where they came from. It’s the day when you will inadvertently be just another arm’s-length advocate, more concerned with the debate between charcoal and propane than the life-or-death situation boiling the southern border.

You get to celebrate the knee-slapper of a reel about how and when your ancestors came through Ellis Island.

You’re allowed to tell yourself that it’s totally different from the stories on the news now. Hell, you can even convince yourself those stories are fake. It’s just not that bad.

Except it is, and it’s real. It’s being allowed to continue, and you, sweetheart, are complicit.

Let freedom ring.