I

’ve been waiting for years 
for a show to be made 
about 
photographers. 

The thrill of following light, 
seeking out stories 
and 
composing 

masterpieces 
offers 
the 
perfect 

ingredients 
for 
a 

captivating 
story. 

Enter: 
Netflix. 

Netflix 
recently 

introduced 
the 

Australian 
series 

“Tales 
by 
Light,” 

which 
follows 
an 

expert photographer 
in each episode. Needless to say, 
I binge-watched the first season, 
but something about the episode 
“Tribes” disturbed me. The show 
documents 
photographer 
Art 

Wolfe in Papua New Guinea as he 
attempts to “record what might 
not exist too far into the future.”

He speaks throughout the 

episode of his “obligation” to 
photograph the peoples, cultures 
and traditions of the places 
he visits. Is this photographer 
“running around third world 
countries 
objectifying 
their 

subjects to the fullest extent,” as 
one reviewer put it, any different 
from the influx of so-called 
humanitarian selfies seen on 
social media post-Spring Break? 
As alternative Spring Breakers 
gear up for their trips of a lifetime, 
it’s imperative they strongly 
consider replacing phones with 
full-on philanthropy.

To get a sense for the selfie 

epidemic — a selfidemic, if 
you will — everyone going on 
an alternative Spring Break 
should 
pay 
a 
visit 
to 
the 

viral blog, Humanitarians of 
Tinder. The page provides a 
steady flow of Tinder profiles 
featuring 
seemingly 
well-off 

20-somethings 
posing 
with 

impoverished 
individuals 
in 

foreign countries. It doesn’t take 
long for an innocent selfie taken 
with a kid in a school, orphanage 
or clinic to go through editing, 
filtering and captioning, directly 
reducing it from memory to 

marketing material. Don’t see 
the problem? At the center of this 
issue is the greater conversation 
on 
voluntourism, 
the 
ugly 

American 
and 
the 

white savior complex. 
Unsurprisingly, many 
of these problems are 
evident in Art Wolfe’s 
travels in “Tales by 
Light” and in many 
of our ASB Facebook 
albums.

When 
we, 
as 

students, go abroad 
in 
service, 
what 

do 
we 
stand 
to 

gain? Are we widening our 
worldviews? Or are we going 
abroad 
for 
popularity 
and 

profit? In the end, it’s a mixture 
of both. When Art Wolfe travels 
to Papua New Guinea out of a 
self-given obligation to preserve 
the 
cultures 
of 
indigenous 

tribes, he’s also focusing on the 
expansion of his photographic 
curriculum vitae. And that’s 
fine. But we have to be critical 
about serving abroad in order 
to increase our social media 
presence when doing so comes 
at the cost of the service itself.

It took a full year of reflection 

on my freshman year week-
long ASB in Guatemala to come 
to terms with this. I went on 
my first ASB as the student 
photographer in 2015 and took 
tens of thousands of photos 
for our host organization. The 
photos were to be used for 
donor recruitment — in a word, 
marketing. But to be fair, it was 
altruistic marketing with the 
goal of sustaining development 
efforts in Guatemala. Each photo 
began with my asking to take 
their photo, a scrambled, “¿Puedo 
tomar tu foto?” and was followed 
by uncomfortable smiles amid a 
firing of my camera shutter.

Eventually it got easier to take 

photos without receiving full 
consent. I assumed everyone 
would want their photo taken 
and wouldn’t care what was to 
be done with the picture. The 
same kind of socially required 

permission to photograph in the 
United States is thrown out the 
window when we, as student 
volunteers, begin documenting 
our 
trips. 
Throughout 
the 

“Tales by Light” episode, I 
uncomfortably 
watched 
as 

the 
photographer 
decorated 

multiple Papuans with paint 
and photographed them as full-
fledged models. What would 
constitute participation in the 
modeling industry in the United 
States is free labor from the 
Papuan. But this is an idea that 
escapes many. When we post pics 
with our friends, we tag them, 
and they presumably receive the 
benefits of social recognition. 
When we photograph models, 
we pay them, either in publicity 
or money. Why don’t we afford 
these same benefits to the people 
(read: “fellow human beings”) 
we serve?

I made a decision to put down 

the camera during my second 
year in Guatemala and couldn’t 
be happier with my decision. My 
focus shifted from self-promotion 
to service. My concern was no 
longer photographing the child 
on his way to getting his vitals 
checked, but checking his vitals 
and monitoring his health. So my 
greatest exhortation to anyone 
going on an ASB: Think about 
why you’re going. Think about 
the people you’re serving and 
what they deserve and whether 
or not you want to partially 
deliver. Don’t make the same 
mistakes I did; be deliberate in 
your presence and treat everyone 
with the same respect you wish 
to be treated with.

A viral and satirical Instagram 

account, @barbiesavior, really 
drives the point home. Complete 
with captions like: “Just taking 
a #slumfie amidst this dire 
poverty and need. Feeling so 
#blessed and #thankful,” Barbie 
Savior highlights the issues we 
can get caught up in when we 
place posting over people.

I 

want to thank Senate 
Majority Leader Mitch 
McConnell. 
Not 
for 

his public service record or 
anything like that; 
I am not a fan of 
him 
and 
do 
not 

support any of his 
political 
beliefs. 

No, I want to thank 
him for accidentally 
giving 
Democrats, 

feminists and anyone 
else who does not 
agree with Trump’s 
appointments 
or 

actions 
their 
next 

rallying cry.

By now, I’m sure everyone 

has seen the instantly iconic 
phrase 
“Nevertheless, 
She 

Persisted” 
or 
#LetLizSpeak 

on Twitter or Instagram. On 
Tuesday night, during a Senate 
debate on the nomination of 
Jeff 
Sessions, 
Democratic 

Sen. 
Elizabeth 
Warren 

(Mass.) read a 1986 letter 
written by Coretta Scott King 
in which King argued against 
confirming Sessions for a 
federal judgeship. But, Sen. 
McConnell interrupted her by 
citing a rule, one that is rarely 
used, meant to keep a certain 
level of civility in the Senate.

I’m not surprised that he 

tried to quiet his opponent. I 
would expect that from any 
politician, 
especially 
one 

who refused to hold hearings 
to fill the vacant seat left by 
Antonin Scalia, former U.S. 
Supreme Court justice. But 
I wonder what he thought 
would happen when he tried 
to shut up one of the most 
vocal Democratic voices in the 
country. Did he really think 
that a woman who exchanged 
blows with Donald Trump on 
Twitter and joined protesters 
in a Boston airport following 
Trump’s travel ban would 
stop speaking?

McConnell 
should 
have 

realized that any attempt to 
silence her would have the 
opposite effect. Sen. Warren 
is not someone who will sit 
quietly in the background 

if you tell her to. She was 
barred 
from 
speaking 
on 

the Senate floor, so she said 
what she needed to outside 

of the Senate and 
broadcasted it to 
millions of people. 
Whether or not you 
warn her against 
doing 
something, 

she will do what she 
feels needs to be 
done. If anything, 
attempts made to 
silence her, like the 
one 
on 
Tuesday, 

will just make more 

people listen to her and make 
her message more potent.

I hate the fact that attempts 

to 
silence 
progressive 

female politicians continue 
to happen, but I love what 
follows. 
When 
Trump 
or 

McConnell 
try 
to 
dismiss 

their opponents, the result 
is never what they intended. 
With Trump, it was “Nasty 
Woman”; 
with 
McConnell 

it 
is 
“Nevertheless, 
She 

Persisted.” 
In 
both 
cases, 

these 
statements 
were 

reclaimed and used to band 
women together. They gave 
us great memes and slogans 
for shirts, but they also gave 
many women something they 
could connect to. This shows 
that there are people, masses 
of people, who oppose the 
limits Trump attempts to 
set on freedom and who will 
support each other in the 
fight against him.

Sen. Warren, and other 

senators 
fighting 
against 

Trump, give me hope that he 
will not just stomp on and 
tear down what people have 
worked hard to achieve. I 
need this reassurance.

For the past few months, 

national political news has 
seemed like a constant stream 
of disappointments. Watching 
Trump 
be 
inaugurated 
as 

president, hearing the news 
of 
the 
confirmations 
of 

Betsy DeVos as secretary of 
education and Jeff Sessions 
as attorney general and seeing 

the anger and frustration of 
my friends leaves me worried. 
The people who are coming to 
power have records showing 
that they are unfit for these 
jobs and that they do not have 
everyone’s best interest in 
mind. They want to bring the 
old rules of the game back; 
the ones that say if you’re not 
rich, white and male, you may 
as well count yourself out and 
watch while the boys play.

Seeing 
this 
political 

shift 
is 
discouraging, 
but 

this shift has forced people 
out 
of 
complacency. 
It 

has encouraged people to 
take a more active role in 
government; this is obvious 
by the amount of protesters 
at the Women’s March and 
even in late-night shows. It 
brings attention to the voices 
of 
minorities 
and 
other 

marginalized groups because 
Trump will affect everyone. 
Hopefully, this activism and 
inclusion will continue. We 
need to keep this attitude 
and 
sustain 
this 
energy; 

we cannot allow the events 
Trump has orchestrated to 
become the norm. We need 
to stay vigilant, not just 
right now but always, to 
ensure that the government 
is filled with people like 
Elizabeth Warren, who does 
not just advocate for the rich 
and ignore the concerns of 
minorities like Betsy DeVos 
or Jeff Sessions do. 

Warren’s actions, those of 

other senators speaking out 
against Trump’s nominations 
and actions and the protests 
that 
followed 
Trump’s 

election win and travel ban 
show that no one is going to 
quietly take their seat. People 
will speak whether Trump 
or Sen. McConnell want to 
hear it or not. Any attempt to 
silence us will only make us 
louder. If you try to stop us or 
to warn us, nevertheless, we 
will persist.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, February 15, 2017

REBECCA LERNER

Managing Editor

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

EMMA KINERY

Editor in Chief

ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY 

and REBECCA TARNOPOL 

Editorial Page Editors

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns

Samantha Goldstein

Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan

Max Lubell

Alexis Megdanoff
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy 

Jason Rowland

Ali Safawi

Kevin Sweitzer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Ashley Tjhung

Stephanie Trierweiler

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

#LetLizSpeak

COREY DULIN | COLUMN

Selfies not for service

IBRAHIM IJAZ | COLUMN

Ibrahim Ijaz can be reached at 

iijaz@umich.edu.

Corey Dulin can be reached at 

cydulin@umich.edu.

L

ast 
Tuesday, 
racist 

emails were sent to the 
University of Michigan 

computer 
science 
and 

engineering email list. Three 
days later, Students4Justice 
organized 
an 
emergency 

protest and sit-in to denounce 
white supremacy, racism and 
bigotry and to call for action by 
the University administration 
to create a more inclusive 
environment on campus.

As the protest commenced 

last Thursday on the Diag, I sat 
in the Michigan Union’s quiet 
Reading Room, unaware that 
the organizers were planning 
the sit-in and protest in the 
same building. By afternoon 
the protesters could be heard 
marching down State Street, 
passionately 
chanting, 
“If 

you’re with us, join us!” and 
ascending into the Union, 
where 
they 
distributed 
a 

letter of demands directed 
to the University president, 
administration and Central 
Student 
Government. 
The 

attendees 
and 
organizers 

protested 
in 
the 
Reading 

Room as well, urging those 
studying and quietly working 
to join the protest. But a 
majority of people packed 
their things and left. 

The discomfort I felt when 

the protesters walked into the 
Reading Room and the reaction 
from those who decided to 
leave troubled me. Though I 
decided to join the sit-in, I was 
conflicted. Over the past few 
weeks, I have questioned how 
my anger toward the political 
climate can be channeled to 
effect change.

Ending racism, misogyny 

and xenophobia calls for broad 
support 
and 
participation. 

With Trump as president, 
combating 
discrimination 

and seeking reparations for 
hate speech and crimes will 
be an ongoing struggle. White 
supremacists, 
like 
those 

who sent the racist emails, 
feel emboldened, no doubt, 
by Trump’s success in the 
election. Richard Spencer’s 
“Hail Trump” speech at the 

“alt-right” 
conference 
in 

November is an example of 
this sentiment.

So, the question remains: 

How do we build a broader 
political coalition to resist 
dangerous government actions 
and hateful speech?

Sometimes, forceful protest 

will be necessary. Actions by 
the Trump administration, and 
his extremist supporters, have 
had a threatening impact on 
the lives of minorities, women 
and immigrants. His executive 
orders and cabinet appointees 
threaten to further disempower 
the already oppressed and 
vulnerable. These actions need 
to be opposed with strong, civil 
expressions 
of 
disapproval. 

Jeff Session’s appointment as 
attorney general presents an 
imminent threat to civil rights. 
The executive order banning 
refugees from several Middle 
Eastern and African countries 
was targeted toward Muslims 
and thus was discriminatory. 
Hate speech, like the racist 
emails, 
poses 
a 
threat 
to 

people’s 
lives 
by 
inciting 

violence 
against 
minorities. 

The list goes on. 

Furthermore, protests like 

the one in the Union or like the 
protests carried out in airports 
across the country in response 
to the Muslim ban should 
not wane. It is necessary to 
continue to advocate for the 
people whose lives are affected 
by hateful actions.

In order to continue the 

momentum 
of 
resistance, 

however, 
we 
need 
broader 

coalition 
building: 
The 

organizers needed everyone in 
the Reading Room to join the 
protest.

On campus, we strive to 

promote 
inclusivity. 
The 

initiatives set forth by the 
University’s Diversity, Equity 
and Inclusion plan have created 
programs to teach incoming 
students about diversity and 
political 
correctness 
during 

orientation. With good reason, 
then, we begin our college 
career cautious to approach 
sensitive topics.

But this poses a problem: 

Avoiding a controversial topic 
out of fear of criticism, or 
critically denouncing our peers 
for using potentially offensive 
language, limits discussion; it 
shoves difficult issues aside. 
In our classes we restrain 
ourselves from expressing our 
opinions on difficult issues 
— if we avoid talking about 
race, at least we won’t say 
anything racist. Associating 
ourselves 
with 
like-minded 

people protects us from having 
our 
opinions 
challenged. 

However, 
this 
inhibits 
us 

from 
developing 
a 
deeper 

understanding of the problems 
facing minorities. We need to 
create an environment where 
discussion about controversial 
issues is encouraged.

So, engage in open dialogue. 

Work together to understand 
how 
non-politically 
correct 

language can have harmful 
implications. 
Be 
open 
to 

criticism and be willing to 
point out when assumptions 
about others are biased.

If 
the 
vulnerable 
and 

disempowered 
in 
society 

continue 
to 
be 
threatened 

by actions from the Trump 
administration — and by his 
extremist supporters inciting 
violence 
— 
organizations 

advocating for change will 
need stronger coalitions to 
resist. Being open to speaking 
to people who look, sound and 
think 
differently 
than 
you 

do and reaching out to your 
peers, including the ones who 
are 
apolitical 
or 
generally 

apathetic, 
is 
crucial 
for 

mobilizing a broader base of 
allies over the next four years.

Now is not the time to 

ignore the demands of those 
who feel threatened. And 
it is not the responsibility 
of minorities to teach the 
world why they must chant 
their demands so loudly. By 
working 
together 
we 
can 

build greater understanding 
and unity in the face of 
oppression.

Mobilize against Trump

SARAH KHAN | OP-ED

Sarah Khan is a Public Policy junior.

IBRAHIM 

IJAZ

COREY 
DULIN

SUBMIT TO SURVIVORS SPEAK

The Michigan Daily’s Opinion section is seeking additions to Survivors 

Speak, a series of first-person accounts of campus sexual assault 
and its corresponding personal, academic and legal implications. 
Submissions will be due by March. 10 at 11:59PM. Visit http://bit.

ly/2kIeoMq for more information.

— Sen. Richard Burr, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, 

on Tuesday.

“

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

We are aggressively going to continue 

the oversight responsibilities of the 

committee as it relates to not only the 

Russian involvement in the 2016 election 
but again any contacts by any campaign 
individuals that might have happened 

with Russian government officials.

”

