William Sutherland's photos with the keyword: Freedom

Mott, the Abolitionist by Kathrina Garcia Rupit, Larchmont, NY. Kathrina Garcia Rupit (a.k.a. KinMx) is a world renown artist (born in Tulum, Mexico) who presently resides in Dublin, Ireland. Her wall art is featured in numerous countries. This work of art was created in 2018 to honor James Mott (1788-1868), a well-known abolitionist who resided at 2137 Boston Post Road in Larchmont, NY as well as the freeing of slaves through the underground railroad, Emancipation Proclamation (1 January 1863) by President Abraham Lincoln and the great sacrifices made during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865). Juneteenth named a federal holiday in the USA in 2021 marks the freeing of the last slaves when Union soldiers arrived to Galveston Bay, Texas on 19 June 1865 and Major General Gordon Granger (1821-1876) proclaimed, "The people of Texas are informed... all slaves are free!"

Larchmont, NY Note: I selected the title 1-1_3-1-1-3 since often during times of repression people have to use symbols and numbers to protect their lives and to express the magnitude and gravity and global ramifications of a coup if it succeeded in the United States. In my photo, I used an image of the constitution with the preamble “We the People” since it is the fundamental basis of the American democracy and all free countries and Scrabble® letters to form my message and provide the code numbers – “No Coup” and two pawns, one black and one white to represent people of all races and genders. The pawns are fallen since a coup would be the death knell of the United States, the people, our inalienable rights including that to even exist, our dreams and ultimate control over our personal destiny. Sadly, today's events in the United States has compelled me to move this photo to the front of my photo stream. This is the first time Washington, D.C. has seen political violence since 1876, the first time since 1814 during the War of 1812, the Capitol was stormed, and the first time people have died in this violence -- one brave Capitol police officer among the five who died. Regardless of what happens now, one cannot say we had a peaceful transition of power when President-elect Biden is certified the winner tonight or early tomorrow and sworn in on 20 January 2021. Those who engaged in this political violence and stormed the Capitol are terrorists, insurrectionists, and traitors. It was a violent coup attempt to overturn the will of the people expressed in free and fair elections. There's no other way to put it. I condemn these despicable acts in the strongest terms. Long live the Constitution and democracy! They will prevail while those involved including President Trump will be forever viewed with shame as history has no reason to be kind to them... ever!