The Voices We Don't Hear

Tickner really impressed me with a lot of what she had to say, especially her thoughts about those voices we don't hear. This was in reference to those who do finish as victors in history, and they remain unheard and ignored. This reminded me a lot of the week we spent talking about the "marginalized voices". I remember that week the blog question was something about the justification of violence from a marginalized, suppressed people. I wrote my blog about precisely what Tickner was speaking about. Those who have power and claim victory have the enormous power to be able to dictate how any event in history is portrayed. Those who are victorious can make the voices of marginalized people almost completely hushed or distorted to fit the image they see fit. Tickner spoke of the importance of stories to convey some of what those who can't be heard want to say. I completely agree with Tickner on this point, and this reminded me of another similar point. It is easy to look back in the past and say "oh the victor writes history!" but when looking directly at the present it is much more difficult to analyze something.

For instance, I feel that on certain issues those with power and influence are generating what THEY want people to see, hear, and believe. I feel that those in power can distort and control the media to produce only what THEY wish to be seen. It is the same as looking in the past, except it is much more difficult to try and conceptualize in present times. This is why stories, and similarly social media is so important. Social media is in my opinion the most trustable since it is so widespread, accessible, and often times pure footage or pictures of the truth. Social media is the voice and stories of the marginalized and oppressed, free from the corruption and bias of a media that is merely a puppet of those who are influential and in power.