Todays MOZEN: Che

F LoBuono

Last night, much to my surprise, I was asked to shoot one of the many anti-Trump rallies that have sprung up around New York and much of the Country since his election. I say surprised because with the exception of the larger events, my work has been mostly confined to the Broadcast Center. But, I always go where I am assigned. So, I gathered my gear and headed to Union Square.

Being a Saturday night around 8 pm, I knew that traffic would be a bear. And, it was. It took me a half-hour just to drive from W57th. St. to the square on 14th. To avoid the "mayhem", I decided to park further towards the West side and walk in. When I got to the square I find the protesters already well engaged. I went to work immediately with my camera documenting the events.

There must have been a few hundred people - mostly young, but not exclusively. It was also predominantly white, but minorities were very well represented. Many held signs, some of them vulgar, denouncing a Trump Presidency. They chanted revolutionary slogans. All peacefully. It was, in a sense, a typical New York crowd.

Even before the assignment, I wondered what the protesters could possibly accomplish. Trump will be President. To not have it so is to invite anarchy. It cannot be. Yet, at the same time, it is not only understandable -people are angry and need to vent - it is also very American. We have a right to assemble and to express our voices. Violence, of course, is unacceptable. So, why?

Perhaps, the ultimate revolutionary hero and voice of, and for, the people, Che Quevara, said it best:

The world must not only be interpreted, it must be transformed. Man ceases to be the slave and tool of his environment and converts himself into the architect of his own destiny.



 "Notes for the Study of the Ideology of the Cuban", October 1960.