Black Panther Protest in Paris Texas

July 21, 2009

I live in Paris. I even know the Lamar County judges and I can say with complete honesty that I know each and every one of them to be fair and without prejudice.











It is almost bizarre that our town is becoming a playing field for the Black Panthers and the KKK.

On the day of the protests, people are bused in from Dallas/Ft. Worth, license plates from out of state are seen more than is usual, there are lots of people we have never seen before marching up and down our streets.











How did we get into this situation? I don't know of anyone in Paris who is really prejudiced. Our community has gone to a lot of effort to have open communication around the issue of racial relations.

Granted, we have our problems.

I am not the mother of a boy who was killed and whose death, arrest of two young white men and the activities of the Lamar County Attorney's office spurred the protest on Tuesday. I can not even imagine her pain and her loss. But I really do not think the death of this young man was race related. I think it was a terrible, terrible tragedy. I am so sorry for her and her family's loss. And I am dismayed that people who do not live here are using this tragedy as a platform for hate. The people I met on Tuesday from the Black Panther group and the protesters from Dallas were very nice. They were cordial, allowed me to photograph them, and let me sit next to them when I got tired. I really think I would like them and they would like Paris if given the chance.

I also think that the law enforcement representatives bent over backwards to be respectful of both camps. There were officers from the State Police, Texas Rangers, City of Paris and the Lamar County Sheriff's Department. The officers were black and white, male and female, young and old. They conducted themselves in a polished and professional manner.

Things didn't go quite as planned. The Black Panthers moved their speeches from the Courthouse parking lot to the fountain in the middle of the square. What appeared to be three skin heads rode up on their bicycles with some sort of a flag draped around them and shouted at the assembled group from across the street.

Things could have gone bad but the planning and the alertness of the law enforcement contingent averted any real catastrophe.

Million Little Pictures Project

More Photos

I am still working on the A Million Little Pictures project sponsored by the Art House Gallery. They send you a no-name plastic camera with generic film loaded into it and encourage you to take 24 pictures of the world around you, develop them and then send them back. The pictures will be on exhibit in Atlanta, Georgia and then it will be a travelling exhibit.

When I got my camera in the mail, it was cracked around the flash area and I had to put black tape around it to keep the light out. It has been a challenge but it has been fun!

My three sons

Looking out from the deck of our room at the Bed and Breakfast toward the beach, I thought the house across the way was under construction. But when we walked up to it take some pictures, I realized that most of it had been blown away by Hurricane Ike and just the shell remained.

I did like how the exposed beams made a frame for a picture of the boys.

Crystal Beach Texas

A year after Hurricane Ike.

Our family spent the past weekend at a B&B in Crystal Beach. Little did we know when we booked the rooms we were going to ground zero where a year ago Hurricane Ike hit and ravaged the Texas coast.

It looks as if this little coastal community is in a war zone. We thought we were going to spend some quality family time by the beach playing in the surf.

As it turned out, we came to know and empathize with the people who find it hard to talk about their friends and neighbors who are still among the missing, the homes and possessions that are lost forever and the intense feelings of vulnerability.

I became mesmerized with the items still buried in the sand everywhere you walk.

Does anyone else think this is funny?

A sign on the Women's Restroom at Roaring River State Park in Missouri:

Who owns your photographs on Facebook?

It pays to read the fine print.

Even if you delete your photographs from sites such as Facebook, they may still have the right to publish them without your permission long after you have taken them off the web. Apparently, in February 2009, Facebook changed its terms and conditions. You might want to read the fine print before you post any more photos on their site.

This same caution might need to be exercised when entering photo contests. Be sure to check and see who retains the copyright and that you are not giving a royalty-free license to distribute your image. Look for wording such as 'Copyright in all images submitted for this competition remains with the respective entrants'.

Pro-imaging (http://www.pro-imaging.org/) looks at the terms and conditions of various photo competitions and rates them as good or bad.

Article from Digital Photographer, Issue 82, page 10-11.

Meeting little Miss Emma in Missouri

We had to go to Missouri this past week to attend the funeral of my
husband's brother. Into the somber moment walked a little ray of light and her name was Emma.

Emma is the six-year-old daughter of David's niece. She was a polite delight and I asked if I could take some pictures of her after the funeral was over.
When I got back home and processed the pictures, I decided to create a little book of poems to send to Emma as a special gift to this delightful child. I think I'll have about a 20 page booklet to send her when it is all said and done.

Article in North Texas e-News

Signs of Paris Photography on Exhibit

The reception for the Signs of Paris Photography exhibit went well last Thursday night. The Lamar County Artist Guild really knows how to throw a party!

Vaughn and his guest were in attendance. It seemes that many were very glad to make his acquaintance and were taken with his outgoing personality. I had a few calls the next day about him and how excited they were about someone from Texas A&M Commerce coming to Paris for an event.

The exhibit will be up until June 20th. It is at the Plaza Art Gallery on the square in Paris. The gallery is open from 9-5 each day.

Here is a link to the article in North Texas eNews about the opening if you want to take a peek: http://www.ntxe-news.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/search.cgi

A Million Little Pictures Project

Some of my pictures so far.

The ArtHouse Gallery is sponsoring A Million Little Pictures project. They send you a camera with film loaded into it and encourage you to take 24 pictures of the world around you. You take the pictures, develop them and then send them back to the ArtHouse Gallery. The pictures will be on exhibit in Atlanta, Georgia and then it will be a travelling exhibit. If you want to participate, go to: http://www.arthousecoop.com/.

I took pictures of my trip to Amarillo for a conference and back to Paris last week. You can take pictures of anything you wish.

Below are a few of the pictures.

Photography Show

You are invited.

Signs of Paris Photography Show
Ginger Cook, Photographer

Thursday, May 21, 2009
5 pm to 7 pm

Plaza Art Gallery, 8 West Plaza, Paris, Texas

When the Paris, Texas City Council passed a sign ordinance in the fall of 2005 requiring all signs from businesses no longer in operation to be taken down, I decided to document and take pictures of the signs in Paris before they were gone.

The first picture taken was of the Grand Theater sign on Lamar Avenue. My photography teacher at Paris Junior College, Marvin Gorley, saw the picture of the Grand and asked if I might be willing to donate a copy of the picture to a fund raiser for Downtown Paris. The 1920’s porcelain with neon sign is on a building that has been vacant since 1998. The picture sold, funds were raised for downtown and I have taken over 250 pictures of Paris signs since.

Ten large prints will be on display along with 10 smaller ones.

I hope to see you there.

Ginger