Follow Jezblog:
This is another image from a trip Ghana....... I have a very clear recollection of that visit even though I have not returned to Ghana for many years......the trip to the village of Encomfi Attackwa in the rain forest........ I remember especially being with people who did not amuse themselves by watching TV or by using any modern gadgets or electronics..... there were not even any mains driven electric lights in the village ...... as the day tipped into night cooking fires were the main lights...... the only modern communications devices were a wind up radios that had been given to some villagers..... these formed the only regular contact from the world beyond...... as evening drew in the villagers gathered in groups to talk.... they seemed happy and content....... but they lived objectively in poverty.
Cheers Jez XXXX
Completely separately.........................................................
I read Colin Powell's endorsement of Barrack Obama ........."has met the standard of being a successful President, being an exceptional President. I think he is a transformational figure."....... It was moving and heartfelt in itself but I clicked through to this picture Colin Powell mentioned and tears welled in my eyes....... What an amazing guy Colin Powell is....... the story of Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan is of service and bravery, sacrifice and loss. The story of an American soldier.... A very young man of 20...... a young American soldier who was Muslim and is now buried in Arlington along with some of Americas Presidents and many of its fallen warriors...... all honored for their service and their sacrifice.
Colin Powell and Barrack Obama and Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan are all Americans whose life history and background might surprise you........ Colin Powell believes strongly in the American mantra that has shaped America and certainly characterized the modern US armed forces..... 'out of many one'
Colin Powell:
"Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer is no. That's not America. Is there something wrong with a seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing he or she could be president? Yet I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion that [Obama] is a Muslim and might have an association with terrorists. This is not the way we should be doing it in America.
"I feel particularly strong about this because of a picture I saw in a magazine. It was a photo essay about troops who were serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay, was of a mother at Arlington Cemetery and she had her head on the headstone of her son's grave. And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone, and it gave his awards - Purple Heart, Bronze Star - showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death, he was 20 years old. And then at the very top of the head stone, it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It has a crescent and star of the Islamic faith.
"And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan. And he was an American. He was born in New Jersey. He was fourteen years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he could serve his country and he gave his life."
All the above from todays endorsement of Barack Obama by Colin Powell.
The thing that struck Colin Powell and myself was the story of Kareem but translated visually into the language of photography.......a single photograph of this fallen soldier's mother at his grave by fellow British photographer..... Platon
More about Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan
Comment: Name: Website: Email (not visible to others) remember me
More+
.... The photography and slightly mad life of reportage artist Jez Coulson ....