After the Vice president created his own optics with a visit to a camp that is concentrating mostly Central American immigrants seeking refuge and one day before #ICEraids are set to start across the country, these hashtags were trending: #ThingsJesusNeverSaid & #FakeChristian

Just from an empathy perspective, his demeanor and conclusions seemed self-serving, political, and he (and his guests) didn’t engage in a way that seemed right for the situation. Clearly many felt the same way even if it was meant to have a different narrative based on his comments.

Thanks to the upside-down world we’re living in where “FAKE” now usually means real, or just something critical of you- I started to wonder if Bad or just Not Christian was more adequate. But, who are we to say what religion a person follows? After all, some were quick to label our previous president as a person of a completely different faith than he follows. We can however look at how much a religion is flaunted or used. Mike Pence uses it more than anyone I know, even in his position where separation of church and state should be exercised. What he’s been willing to not criticize in the President makes for a clear case of hypocrisy. Perhaps looking at what Christianity teaches, we can understand why these hashtags were immediately popular today.

Just some thoughts as I was reading and thinking about all this today:

Most men, women and children being concentrated in cages are #NativeAmerican & Christians (Because #Invasion #genocide #conversion #ByTheSword – Because they were labeled as less than human back then. Some called “Animals” even now)

The #13Colonies were formed to be free from The #ChurchofEngland

Mary, Joseph and Jesus were #Refugees, and even physically speaking, Jesus looks more like the people behind the fences than those who look like Vice President Mike Pence or Donald Trump.

You can look at it either way:

“whatever you DID for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you DID for me.”

“whatever you DID NOT DO for one of the least of these, you did NOT DO for me.”

More to the point: “When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. “

Ultimately it doesn’t matter what faith you follow- you can just be GOOD and kind to others. If you need a religion to help you with that- find it!

Some people are posting this meme as a direct response to people being outraged about the treatment of “the illegals”. It was bothering me over the weekend and it was made worse by the fact that my daughter had to be without her mother for a few days. But who would purposefully put this out there and who would give this a like, love, happy or sad face?

A woman and a child in a sleeping bag on the street. I have a wife who is someone’s daughter and we have a daughter. I can relate. It only includes 21 words. It mentions “democrats”, “American Family” and repeats “American”. I looked into the source and I was not surprised at the hate, bigotry, violence, and false information they spread (their header and profile pic was also trying a little too hard).

As I watched my daughter taking a nap with a couple of her stuffed animals that she had gently covered up to sleep, I began to break apart this meme. only democrats could be outraged about the mistreatment of those being refereed to as basically ‘others’? non-democrats shouldn’t or don’t care? It doesn’t try to defend the “treatment” as much as it makes the case that you can’t care about everyone.

The people

Then, being a photographer, I started to think about the image being used. I studied the subjects. You can’t really see their faces. I started to think about the image of the father and daughter who had recently drowned while trying to reach the U.S. There was even video of them. We later found out who they were; Óscar Alberto Martinez Ramírez and his 23-month old daughter, Valeria. We got to see a family portrait of them. So, I kept looking at this meme. Maybe they are sisters. Did the person behind the meme also take the picture while trying to help this “American Family”? Where was it taken?

Curiosity

Then I noticed a faint copyright on the bottom left corner. It was very hard to read. I decided to find out. Long story short- I found photographer John Rudoff. For some reason I felt I should write to him. I had no idea what sort of response I’d get. I wanted to ask him about the image being used with this meme. Just wanted to understand his involvement and any clarification on the subjects. To my shock, I received an almost instant response. It made my day. It brought me tears.

Photographer

John thanked me for reaching out and explained that “It has been going on for years despite a formal take down notice from FB.” and he added “I don’t like this any more than you do”. After my emotional reply with more background about me and my feelings towards these images, he added the following full answer in case there was any question by anyone about how he feels:

“Friends: I have now been made aware by at least 10 different people that a photo of mine is being widely shared in a way such as to disparage refugees, and to attack American attempts to offer aid or solace to refugees from other countries. The photo is one I made during homelessness protests in Portland, Oregon, in my work as a photojournalist. It shows a mother and a young child asleep on a blanket on a street. (I am not re-posting the photo here.) I wish to state categorically, unequivocally, and for/on the record that such use of my photo is unlawful and is theft. (Often my copyright notice in the lower left corner has been cropped out.) It does not, repeat does not express my own attitudes towards refugees, which are plainly evident in work I have posted here over the years. The despicable comments that I have seen attached to the stolen uses of my photo are repugnant to me, and as a humanitarian and as a photojournalist, I reject them absolutely. I am sorry about the inappropriate and unauthorized usages of my photo, and on behalf of the decent people of America I apologize to those who are properly affronted by its use.”

I know a little bit about empathy and that last part really means so much. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He’d been doing the exact opposite. The people in those image were actually protesting in support of homeless people. They were actually concerned about where people slept, or if they could even sleep. Yet, he was apologizing and saying that I had every right to be “affronted” by the meme.

Knowing more about those people on the image made me feel so much better. They were safe. They were heroes! They were actually actively trying to improve the lives of homeless people. I was right to also worry about them as much as to also be outraged at the “treatment” of other brave and vulnerable families. The people using their image as just a prop were disrespecting them, the photographer, people who care, and other “Americans”.

THAT MEME LOST ITS POWER. I started to feel some joy.

SUDDENLY!

It was actually at this moment that a message came in from my manager. He said to call him because he had “really incredible news”. I had just received the incredible honor of being nominated for an Imagen Award for my supporting role in the film Icebox on HBO. The film’s subject? A Central AMERICAN boy’s journey through the detention system we’ve been reading so much about. I played his uncle. I helped tell a story that is putting a spotlight on those like him living in the shadows (or “al bajo-bajo” as he says).

Affirmation

You can work from your heart and turn on some light even when some try to darken your existence or those around you. No human is Illegal. Odds are that if you really care about people on the streets, you don’t care what streets and if you care about children, you care about all children. So much can be done with 21 words and a stolen image. Guess what’s being used by our enemies these days to create division? Why are we our own enemy as well?

A lot more can be done with a little empathy.

What a good day to create my blog’s “Personal Thoughts” section. Earlier in the day, as I read the daily news, I had to first think about the women around the world still fighting for some basic human rights on this International Women’s Day. It really gets you thinking about the world we live in. Women deserve our efforts to make sure they don’t have to deal with some of the norms that have suppressed generations and still haunt us in 2018! I remember being shocked as a young student learning that women had only been allowed to vote in 1920 in the United States of America. The Women’s Suffrage movement is reaching a century. My grandmother would have turned 100 last year.

The Image with Abuelita

My beautiful Abuelita was 60 years old when she took charge of raising me in a tiny village in Mexico after my father left in search of the northern American dream. My Native American, Mexican, Poor, Proud, and hard working grandmother is the matriarch of a family that she propelled to be their best. Whatever we accomplish, we can all look back at her strength and mighty shoulders. She wasn’t even five feet tall. I personally can thank her for my heart, my way of thinking, the respect I have for good and humble people no matter where they come from, and for my love for real food!

Let me confess something that I’ve always felt guilty about. I was trying out journalism in High School and nobody knew about my situation; I was sharing a living room with a day laborer, sleeping on the couch of cousin’s apartment, and taking three buses each day to get to school. I didn’t want to quit because my grandmother, who never learned to even read or write her own name, pushed me to always seek a good education. For the yearbook they wanted a baby picture from the newspaper staff. I was voted “most earnest”. At some point my grandmother had taken us to the big pueblo to get a picture taken.

What a special image of the two of us starting our journey together. But, you know what I did? I cut out my face to comply to what they wanted. I remember feeling so terrible about it. I wanted to fit in and it cost me literally cutting myself out of an image next to the person who loved me the most.

Recovering this rare picture of me as a toddler is such a blessing. An aunt in Mexico City had a copy and she gave it to me a few years ago.

The Woman

My grandmother never made excuses even when things went completely wrong. She was always poised with dignity and was respected by everyone who knew her. I could count on her to be direct, stern, honest, tender, gentle, and respectful. I never wanted to maker her not proud of me. Being raised by her, I saw how much she gave and how little she expected in return, and that’s true for so many of the women in our world. But now more than ever I think women need us all to follow their lead. Maybe the amazing women of our past put their dreams on hold and found happiness with the givens, but that doesn’t mean they wanted it to continue in perpetuity.

Being the most experienced and prepared in history didn’t turn out as expected in H.R.C. as first woman president for this nation, but seeing the disaster that took office, has led to a record number of women seeking office. I love that. Women are now trying to take an even stronger lead. We need women in the highest powers- and they will make things better for all of us. That I get to help raise a girl is a very special blessing in my life. I’m excited to pass on some of my grandmother’s spirit to my daughter. The good thing is that I’m not doing it alone. I’m a fine enough man to have found an amazing woman to be my life partner, my wife, and she and I are devoted to raising our future president – she has already taken part in the Women’s March with us.

I wanted to capture a very similar image to the one with my grandmother. It is a statement of my commitment to her in honor of the commitment my grandmother made to me. Today that little boy who found himself without parents and whose uncertain future was in the arms of a 60 year old powerful woman who said “I got this”, stands holding his daughter and repeats the same thing. If I can do half of what my Abuelita did for me, I will have succeeded.