Monday, January 15, 2007

A Time to Break Silence


James Peters, Pearlington hero, still living in a FEMA trailer.

"A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor -- both black and white -- through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated, as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So, I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such." -Martin Luther King, Jr. 1967

15 comments:

Eric Hancock said...

Nice.

Anonymous said...

What a sad reminder that, you know, plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. In English I believe the best translation is SSDD.

Thanks for all you do.

Anonymous said...

rena's right, ssdd. however, it's always good to hear your perspective. never give up, please try and post at least once a month. thanks.

Hokule'a Kealoha said...

I always enjoy your perspective I look forward to hearing from you again

Anonymous said...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16848353/
Volunteers shoulder Katrina rebuilding
Charity groups, do-it-yourself efforts fill funding void in Gulf communities

Your presence (comments) here help contribute to the rebuilding. Thanks so much. Even when I see that CNN is continuing to comment, I am reminded of this website. Again, please don't wait so long to post again if you can help it. I know that you are busy. I'm also aware that you can't be in two places at once. But, your voice is needed here as a reminder. People need to be reminded. You have a way of making people see the human side. We certainly can't depend on the government. Once again, thanks so much.

Kate said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kate said...

The lavender glow on the picture is quite surreal. When water turns that colour (usually at sunset), I’m always struck at how it looks like a watercolour. I think it says a lot when life starts to resemble art

High Power Rocketry said...

: )

Anonymous said...

I just found your site. The pictures of the Gulf Coast grab at my heart. Our (very large, extended) family lost the home that we gathered at several times a year in Lakeshore, MS.
So many memories...
enjoying frozen cups of Kool-aid sold for a nickel afer playing on the beach in Waveland...penny candy at Carmel's Seafood when MS. Carmel was still alive...fishing off the sea wall.
My memories are of summer fun. I can hardly bear to think of the people whose memories are of a life that is gone.
Everything is all tents and FEMA "campers"...still. God help us all for allowing this to continue.
Thank you for your photos.

Anonymous said...

HELLO
MY NAME IS MARGARET
HERE IN CHINO CALIFORNIA
OUR LANDSCAPE LOOKS THE SAME AS YOURS.

WE LOST THE CALIF. DAIRY PRESERVE.
BUT ALL MAY NOT BE LOST
SOME OF THE DAIRY FARMERS CAN GIVE YOU ALLLLLL THE BUILDING SUPPLIES CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES ARE TAKING TO LOCAL DUMP SITES.
THE BLOCKS ARE ONLY 30 YEARS OF AGE WE NEED SOME SUGGESTIONS, IF YOU ALL WANT THE FREE LUMBER AND BRICKS
COSENTINOMARGARET@yahoo.com

havemycake said...

your pictures are gorgeous. especially like the light here. i'm from jackson & have relatives on the coast and in new orleans. it's been amazing to see the local artist respond to this tragedy. for one thing, it's an accessible forum and the rest of the world is paying attention. sometimes southern artists have a hard time getting the word out, but katrina is ours, it happened here.

there is a fine line between documentation and exploitation, especially when the documentation has aesthetic ambition. you've navigated admirably. it's important to remember that even now, so long later, these people are still struggling; they still need the rest of the world to pay attention, to try and help.

sch said...

Siege/Mr. Cubitt: Your work is amazing. I'm wondering if you can help me...I'm trying to help give voice to the Gulf Coast...here's what I'm doing:

I am a senior theater major at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. For my final thesis project I am working on creating a
multimedia art and performance piece, to be presented towards the end of May as
the culmination of my playwriting and theater theory studies. The focus of this
project is "Culture of a Storm: American Artists' Reactions to Hurricane Katrina
and its Aftermath". I spent some time volunteering in Biloxi, MS over the past
two years and found myself intrigued by the artistic community's response (both
local and visiting) coming out of the destruction on the Gulf Coast; upon
returning home to Dartmouth I did a great deal of research and ended up writing
two plays about what I had seen in Biloxi, which I am still working on.

As part of my continuing research and eventual presentation, I hope to include
the voices and artwork examples of artists like yourself. Please consider
meeting or phone/email conferencing with me to discuss your own motivations,
experiences, reactions and thoughts on this topic. I very much want, in my own
small way, to show the world at large what the artistic community has to say
about the triumph and disaster surrounding Hurricane Katrina, as I think it's
incredibly important that America not forget it.

You can reach me by emailing shuz@dartmouth.edu. I look forward to hearing from you soon, and would be happy to send
you more information or answer any questions about the project.
Additionally (this is to you, Mr. Cubitt, and to all others reading this blog) I
would very much appreciate the names of any other artists who you think might be
able to help me. Thank you for your time!

joy said...

What a beautiful blog. Thanks so much for sharing your inspirational work.

Anonymous said...

was down in NO in April with Habitat, people think that because it is not in their face in the mainstream media - it doesnt exist. Breaks my heart to see that so much destruction still exists - that we live in the richest country on the planet - and still people go with out basic needs. Thank you for your reminder and your beautiful and moving photographs.Thank your mom for her faith in Jesus - she is an inspiration!

Anonymous said...

Why, I wonder, do our military leaders, and evil and criminal men such as W. Bush, invest in unnecessary foreign wars such as Iraq> They could send the troops to places where poverty exist, build up these poor communities, which would build up a tax base, which would increase tax revenue, which would eventually eradicate poverty in America and reduce crime. I do not get Republicans and Christians and conservatives. Tate Fletcher, Plattsburgh, NY