‎The Importance of Political Cartoons!

#Cartoon - SCAF's "free elections" in #Egypt - #Jan25 #Tahrir #NOSCAF by @CarlosLatuff
Originally published by Latuff at http://twitpic.com/7kmpuu

Today I woke up, turned on my phone, walked over to my computer and one of the first things I ended up looking at was this cartoon. My personal commentary is that just looking at this cartoon was difficult...but Latuff was spot on in his depiction of Egyptian politics - as is usual for his cartoons.  For me it was difficult to see certain predictions come true. Now what? If the dead voted and the living have trouble voting...what will the future bring for Egypt? And please consider this a rhetorical question. I know what it means. 

Which brings me to the power of political cartoons! They are immensely important in society. In a glimpse the cartoonist, any cartoonist, has to concisely capture the current sentiment/issue at hand. To give the general public a birds eye view...sometimes more brutally than other times (which is appropriate)...into what's going on. Some of us see these images and appreciate the candor and ability to capture what's happening. And as activists we use these images heavily to get our points across to the general public! Others literally wake up by viewing these images. Well this one should have been an eye opener to many!  


Some may react like I did. Others, not so involved in Middle East or any politics really, will...think...relate...pass it on. And hopefully wake up a bit!


Obviously political cartoons by no means represents all of the political awareness raising process. But it is a very important part. A picture can and does, more often than not, represent a thousand words, feelings, sentiments... 


Finally, I'm including a video clip on the making of a cartoon on behalf of the Egyptian revolution by Latuff. Have a look. This is how it's done right!

Originally posted by Latuff at http://youtu.be/Hiax_vsAaCE



Special thanks go to Carlos Latuff for making his cartoons and videos so widely available to us all!




~ Sofia Smith