Rihla #14

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3) Napoleon Bonaparte once said, "A picture is worth a thousand words." That is exactly why images/photos can be a valuable resource for historians who are trying to understand the past. An image/photo can say so much about the past. It can tell you what kind of clothing was worn during certain times, how the economy was, or even how most people felt during the time the image/photo was taken.

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Photos

Crazyness
This image describes my 2011 better than I can. My year was crazy. It was full of surprises and unexpected turns (both good and bad). It has definately been one of my hardest years, but the moments in this year were definately worth it to live.

Christians protect Muslims during prayer in Cairo, Egypt.
This image is extremely powerful in my opinion. At first I was surprised that Christians were protecting Muslims (a different religious group) but then I saw the young faces of the Christians. This photo shows that the world is changing for the better and that different groups of people are starting to accept and respect eachothers believes. It brings a lot of hope for the world.

Facebook played an extremely important role in the uprisings throughout the Middle East.
Don't we all love Facebook? Most of us just use it as a distraction to not do our homework, but this photo shows us that Facebook can be used for more powerful things. Thanks to this social networking site, the uprisings in the Middle East and their success would have not been possible. What other big events have been possible because of Facebook?

84-year-old Dorli Rainey was pepper sprayed during a peaceful march in Seattle, Washington. She would have been thrown to the ground and trampled, but luckily a fellow protester and Iraq vet was there to save her. (Joshua Trujillo / seattlepi.com)
This image probably stood out to the most. It shows the cruelty that still goes on in the world today. It is inhumane to pepper spray an indefenseless 84 year old woman that was peacefully protesting, just simply tacking advantage of her right of speech. How much farther can the world go in terms of violence no a days?

Cars are abandoned on Chicago's Lake Shore Drive during the "Snowpocalypse" in February.
I of course had to pick this image as one of the top five because I lived it. The "Snowpocalypse" is an event in Chicago that shal never be forgotten. The city was paralyzed (and we did not have school, which made us very happy). This photo deffinately shows the severity of the blizzard that hit us last year. I wonder if it will ever happen again...

Phyllis Siegel, 76, left, and Connie Kopelov, 84, both of New York, embrace after becoming the first same-sex couple to get married at the Manhattan City Clerk's office.
This image just braught a lot of warmth and happiness to my heart. It is nice to see that more communities are slowly being accepted in this country. This image shows that love really is real :)