Photos: Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade
For the first time in my weird career as a photojournalist I covered the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. My photographer friends and colleagues all sighed and said that they were thankful that they didn’t have to do it. They were weirded out a bit more when I said I had volunteered for the gig. So when I woke up at 7am (realistically a bit too late) I jumped on the subway uptown with a bit of apprehension and exhaustion, I had been covering a protest until about 10pm the night before. After talking my way into the gated off parade…
Black Lives Matter Takes to the Streets in NYC
Black Lives Matter protestors took to the streets once again in Manhattan seeing several arrests and some abuse. This time the marchers were in solidarity with the Minneapolis occupiers that were shot, allegedly white supremacists and with the Black Lives Matter protestors in Chicago. They didn’t just take to the streets, they also took to Thanksgiving Day’s Official Sponsor, Macy’s. Employees and tourists stood by taking video with their phones and managers stood by just shaking their head as just for a moment, consumerism stopped. [Click on the links to view the videos] Raw Footage: #BlackLivesMatter March Through Macy's #NYC…
At the Historic Stonewall Inn – Gay Marriage Celebrations in NYC
On a week of historic Supreme Court decisions and non-stop breaking news, the decision that gay marriage was constitutional has swept the Nation like a cool breeze on a Summer day in Fairbanks. I’m stuck in New York City for the time being so hearing the news, I ran to the Stonewall Inn, the place many call the home of the LGBT rights movement in the USA. The celebrations were just ramping up as it was only an hour after the official announcement from D.C. but the crowd was certainly celebratory. Here’s a couple of my best shots – I’ll…
New York’s St. Patrick’s Day Photos
For the first time in my photo career I was assigned to cover the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade – it was one of my bucket list assignments. The specific focus of my assignment was the first ever LGBT group allowed to march in the parade. You can see my photos from that part of the parade over at the Village Voice. While I was there on assignment, I also photographed the rest of the parade – below are a few of my favorite shots – many more can be seen at my photo website.
Black Lives Matter: Across The Brooklyn Bridge
Unlike the usual New York protests that end in violence from police and dozens of arrests, this march happened peacefully. Carrying mock coffins that had the names of those killed by the NYPD, at least a thousand people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge Thursday night. Circled by police helicopters and joined by members of the NYPD, the protesters chanted ‘Black Lives Matter,’ occasionally changing it to ‘Thugs Lives Matter’ – meaning that even those committing minor crimes don’t deserve to be shot or strangled.
Exclusive: Inside an Ebola Quarantine
[Read Marcus DiPoala’s frontline photo-essay at TheMudflats] I got back to the U.S. from covering the Ebola outbreak in Liberia on October 19. I went because very few reporters were there, and the ones that were there were only staying for a week or so. I felt that this story was too important to not be on the ground, so I bought a plane ticket and went. On the way back, I had to go through three levels of screening, and by the time I had cleared customs at JFK International Airport in Queens, NY, I thought I was done….
Open Thread – Climate Change March
I’m in NYC right now covering the Climate Change March. I’ve already met people from Texas, California and even Guatemala and they’re all here to tell the United Nations to take immediate action on climate change. You can find out more about tomorrows march at peoplesclimate.org/march/ Will you be participating in local marches? What’s going on in your area environmentally?
Beaten and Arrested Occupier Facing 7 Years
Occupier Cecily McMillan who was found guilty of striking a NYC Police Officer is looking at 7 years in jail. Many of the jurors have signed onto a plea to the judge for her to just receive community service – claiming that they had no idea that their sentence of guilty on felony assault charges would mean such a lengthy sentence. The jurors criminal ignorance aside – many of her fellow Occupiers, lawyers and citizens have called for leniency from the judge. Sentencing for Cecily will be held Monday the 19th.
#BringBackOurGirls Rally at NY City Hall – Photos
Yesterday in New York City Councilmembers called for action on the kidnapped Nigerian girls. As of publication, nearly 300 Nigerian girls are still missing taken by the terrorist group Boko Haram. The US military is getting involved using surveillance planes and satellites to search for the group. I recommend checking out the excellent coverage at Al Jazeera for more info.
Open Thread: September 11th
It’s been 12 years since a group of Saudi men took two planes and flew them into the World Trade Center Towers. It’s sparked two wars in the Middle East, over five thousand dead Americans, and hundreds of thousands of Afghans and Iraqis. Bin Laden was killed… eventually. Now with drones flying in the sky over Yemen, dropping bombs on sheepherders and JSOC killing wedding parties, we stand at the precipice of a new war – one with Syria – yet another Middle Eastern country. We considered an attack by commercial aircraft an act of war, but our Secretary of…