The Bookworm Beat 12/8/14 — the mother of all illustrated editions (and Open Thread)
Even though I’ve been away from the computer a bit in the last few days, my wonderful friends Caped Crusader and Sadie have continued to be zealous about finding the best posters from all over the blogosphere. I’m playing catch-up today, so I’m going to jumble all 35 of them in a single post. I’ll also do something I rarely do, which is to offer my comments about a couple of them which I think need explanation (or at least I need to explain why I’ve chosen to publish them). Here goes:
I’m not publishing the following to say that blacks are bad people. I’m publishing it because it very quickly and efficiently makes the point that blacks are far and away the biggest victims of the violent crime within their own communities. Doing away with police officers, which is the end result of these riots, will worsen, not improve, black communities and black safety:
By publishing this poster about slavery, I’m not trying to absolve 18th and 19th century white Americans from the sin of slavery. I’m just agreeing that the historical record errs when it absolves blacks of being complicit in that same sin. They were participants in America (although their numbers were few) and they were necessary in Africa, where rival tribes sold each other to the Muslim slave traders. And speaking of Muslims, another useful poster would reveal Muslim complicity in the slave trade, something that’s part of Islamic doctrine and, therefore has extended from Islam’s inception to the present day:
Okay, I’m now off the soapbox. Enjoy the rest of the images within my commentary: