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April 4, 2008

Union Embrace

Union Embrace

On the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, I thought it fitting to embrace this image from the NYT slide show “Wednesday on the Trail.”

NYT photographer Damon Winter captured these two union officials right after Obama finished speaking at an A.F.L.-C.I.O. meeting in Philadelphia.  The pink-skinned man with the white hair and creme coat offers a profound contrast with the brown man in the black coat, the two linked in arms, with the symmetry of their glasses forming a more subtle, but definitive bridge.  The letters, PR, by the way, do not allude to PR, like the kind which distracts us from more genuine feeling and thought.  In this case, they form the first two letters of the word “Proud.”

Also, I can’t be sure, but if that is Obama framed between the two men, he literally fits as the connecting element.

Lorraine-1

And, from The BAG archive:

Heartbreak Hotel: a previous

take on the Lorraine

(Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times.  April 2, 2007. nytimes.com)

  • Stella

    It looks to me that the white – haired man is older and more feeble than the black man who is looking directly at him and supporting him. The photo does illustrate a relationship that I suspect predates the appearance of Obama who is a very welcome bridge for all of us. These two gentlemen may have waited together for this moment to arrive.

  • Thirdeye Pushpin

    race is a distraction to class, and a workers movement that avoids the pitfalls of racism is one that can succesfully build bridges. this photo points in the right direction…

  • http://www.jaxxattaxx.com/ black dog barking

    We’ve seen a lot of Sen Obama from behind — Time Magazine, laughing with Tony Rezko, captured by Alan Chin in Ohio. Not sure what to make of this. Is the press *literally* *following* him around?

  • Cactus

    There is something of an unease about the photo. On a superficial level it’s nice to see an older black and older white in a friendly embrace, which this appears to be. But the white man still has a feel of aloofness; he’s not looking at the black man, his arm seems to be in a slightly uncomfortable position. It’s as if his comfort level with this (or any) black man has not quite overcome his reticence to fully embrace him, and by so doing to let go of all his prejudices.
    Or, to look on the bright side (for once); if that IS Obama in the middle, and it does look like him, then the iconography accessible in this photo is that at last, one more struggle overcome.