The Artist Delivers Clarity Where Authority Throws Mud

Renee Good. I saw the video. I was horrified. Who wouldn't be?

Others write if she had just listened to the officers. If she wasn't defiant.

That final comment. "That's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you."

It was sarcastic. Not genuine. Nor was the smile that came with it.

Her partner didn't help. Talking smack to ICE. "Go get yourself some lunch, big boy."

If she only showed respect.

The same could be said for Nelson Mandela. For Rosa Parks. For Neda Agha-Soltan. For Sarina Esmailzedah. For countless others.

And where would we be?

It is easy to get lost.

Protesting or taking a stand for hard working immigrants is not an murderable offense. Nor is being a member of the LGBTQ community. (She was not your typical middle-class mom, you see. So don't worry. This could never happen to you.)

I am a lifelong fan of U2. But I really don't like to read or watch interviews with Bono. He is too much the salesman. Like a preacher stealing hearts at a traveling show. But his lyrics cut right through moral ambiguity. The rationalizing away of scenes so plain to your lying eyes.

The artist delivers clarity where authority throws mud.

U2's Days of Ash couldn't come a moment too soon.

Mark James is the Kirkus-starred author of geopolitical thrillers Friendship Games and The Compass Room. He has taught political and economic geography for over twenty years.