
Censorship at any level should not be tolerated by anyone, especially artists.
Art makes a difference in our society. It has as far back as humans have been walking on this planet. It's the images the artists leave behind that tell the stories of the people and the time they live in. Image making is as important today as ever. Fear should never govern what is made or shown.
After the cold blooded massacre in Paris at Charlie Hebdo, many news outlets intimidated into self censorship decided not to republish the controversial images. Clearly the tactics of the terrorists are working.
11 French-language Quebec newspapers stood up to the bullies and republished a Charlie Hebdo cartoon, along with the statement that reads, “Attacking someone simply for their ideas and opinions is an unacceptable impediment to democracy.”
Bravo.
All of the news outlets that decided to hide behind the shield of silence have not done the world any favours. They have dropped the ball and are encouraging the terrorists to continue their tactics. If everyone publishes, writes and makes images, the bullies will come to understand that the world will not tolerate their actions. By staying silent, they are saying the behaviour is acceptable.
The Huffington Post understands this and wrote about the timeline and the suspected catalysts, publishing the cartoons in question.
A cartoon (below) that was created in response to the attack by artist Darren Bell, published on boredpanda.com sums it up very nicely. Artists will not be intimidated into silence.
Art makes a difference in our society. It has as far back as humans have been walking on this planet. It's the images the artists leave behind that tell the stories of the people and the time they live in. Image making is as important today as ever. Fear should never govern what is made or shown.
After the cold blooded massacre in Paris at Charlie Hebdo, many news outlets intimidated into self censorship decided not to republish the controversial images. Clearly the tactics of the terrorists are working.
11 French-language Quebec newspapers stood up to the bullies and republished a Charlie Hebdo cartoon, along with the statement that reads, “Attacking someone simply for their ideas and opinions is an unacceptable impediment to democracy.”
Bravo.
All of the news outlets that decided to hide behind the shield of silence have not done the world any favours. They have dropped the ball and are encouraging the terrorists to continue their tactics. If everyone publishes, writes and makes images, the bullies will come to understand that the world will not tolerate their actions. By staying silent, they are saying the behaviour is acceptable.
The Huffington Post understands this and wrote about the timeline and the suspected catalysts, publishing the cartoons in question.
A cartoon (below) that was created in response to the attack by artist Darren Bell, published on boredpanda.com sums it up very nicely. Artists will not be intimidated into silence.
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."