Photo Series: The Chalking of Ghent
Words AltDaily Staff
Tuesday, October 12th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
In an inspired essay in a recent edition of The New Yorker, Malcolm Gladwell wrote, of the civil rights movement,
“Fifty years after one of the most extraordinary episodes of social upheaval in American history, we seem to have forgotten what activism is.”
One of the cruxes of his argument is that virtual connections are just that–virtual–when it comes to enacting real change.
“The evangelists of social media don’t understand this distinction,” he writes. “They seem to believe that a Facebook friend is the same as a real life friend and that signing up for a donor registry in Silicon Valley today is activism in the same sense as sitting at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro in 1960.”
With that spirit in mind, let’s celebrate the people who left their houses on Sunday and came out to Ghent to physically make their world better and more beautiful. Also thanks to our partners, the Ghent Business Association and Ronald McDonald House.
Pic | Sam Shinault
Sam Shinault
jESiO
Christopher Post
Love.
Family (Pic | Holly Christopher)
Want to get involved?
Join the SPIN movement promoting street performance in Norfolk.
Get in touch with other Hampton Roads artists.
Help us plan stuff like this. Email jesio@altdaily.com.
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This article has been published by AltDaily editorial staff. For more information on AltDaily email the editor-in-chief at jesse@altdaily.com or the publisher at hannah@altdaily.com.
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Hmmm,
if (Facebook friend != real friend) then (chalk on sidewalks != civil rights protest)
i’m sure it was cool and all, but really…
I’m not equating this event with a civil rights protest. I’m sorry if that’s how it came off.
But there is something to be said for actually leaving your house and doing something, as opposed to hitting ‘like.’
A Big THANK YOU to all the participants in the Second Chalking of Ghent! We appreciate your support for the children and families at Ronald McDonald House Charities of Norfolk. Thanks to AltDaily and the Ghent Business Association for selecting the House again! It was a beautiful day and the art was great. Thanks!