Author | Bekkah Bekz
Photography by Gizelle Peters
As humans in the United States, or even in New York City, we move at a rapid pace. Our minds switch from what we want for lunch to how cute the puppy we saw on the internet was. Our conversations switch from that new style to that sad event in some remote part of the world, our texts go from Emoji’s to sexts, Tweets are quick retweets of importance that are soon forgotten, status updates of intellectual debate quickly become followed by a #firstworldproblems. These are our voices and the ways we use them. It is all wrong. Because for the millions of people around the world with a home, food on the table, a cell phone, a closet of clothing, there are millions of others that are prisoners – whether it is behind bars or not due to what they blogged, who they love, how they feel, what they represent, where they danced or walked, and they go without what we consider necessities.
On February 5th, 2014, I (Bekz) went on behalf of Posture to the Amnesty International Bring Human Rights Home Concert as well as the press conference that led up to it. I was notified the evening before of my access and, while I knew the Press Conference would be an amazing experience and a close encounter with the folks performing at that evenings concert, I like many attendees was more excited to see the performers than the press conference itself. But then it all started, Amnesty International representatives began to speak – some who were held captive themselves as “Prisoners of Conscience.” One such rep, Sir Bib Geldof, spoke about his disappointment in his generation’s successes towards capturing the much deserved human rights across the globe. Pussy Riot’s members who were just released from prison in Russia spoke about the need to continue the fight, the need to continue to work with Amnesty International to find those holding a candle somewhere, keeping it lit, in hopes someone sees it and will rescue them like Amnesty has done for many others both in the USA and around the world for many years. I sat and listened to Sir Bob Geldof pass the torch to my generation, to generations to follow. “This generation may have one or two successes, but will most likely fail you… but keep fighting” Sir Bob Geldof advised. He made sure the new generation of musicians in the room, The Fray, Pussy Riot, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds knew that as musicians they bare social responsibility, they have a voice, and while yes they can gather people in to Barclays it is after the lights go down that will matter. While I sat there, one of a few dozen press representatives, I stopped taking notes and started to absorb the speaker’s words.
Pussy Riot spoke with poise and eloquence, I don’t understand Russian but I understood their passion. They vowed to go back to Russia and “make it free.” The room went quiet and I felt their motivation. Pussy Riot wants the world to know that anyone can be a part of their group, stage these protests, and fight. These girls with so much confidence and a no holds barred attitude, urge us to tell our peers about the violence in nations around the world, and in their own country the violence that is everywhere against the LGBTQ community while police stand idly by. They gave their message to Putin and put it simply: “Leave.”
So the conference continued and so did the questions, the concerns, the loud flashes of the cameras, the quick typing of the press to ensure they have enough details to fill in for their deadline, the live Tweets, the phone checks… No one on the stage looked intimidated by this. They probably know by now what the press will report on. But one message left me with chills and guilt from the Amnesty International Chairwoman: “The stakes here are incredibly high now. We need to continue being inspired and human rights must continue to be a household conversation. We have here the new generation of entertainers for humanity, and we need to continue the light, the power must continue, and we must continue to fight. People, our own people, humanity is waiting for us.”
And the conference ended, the press rushed to the red carpet, and I stayed, humbled, in the almost empty room where only the reporters can truly tell you what happened there. Maybe not everyone was inspired, maybe too many of these press conferences happen and end up getting mushed together, but if we had one we could go to, let it be this one, with faces and voices of the fight vowing not to back down. Let’s keep their words, use their words, hold them to it, and carry it on ourselves. I don’t want my generation to let me down.
- Photo by Gizelle Peters
