The Constitution Doesn’t Work Unless It’s For All of Us
Our rights are on the auction block, and those in power are cashing in.
We were promised Liberty.
From my own eyes to my sore feet walking miles documenting the significance of this historic moment, I’m witnessing in real time the frustration of people who feel unheard. You can hear the vivid shouting echo through the chambers of the streets. People are frightened by the threat of losing their civil liberties, such as due process, and rightfully so. It’s a cornerstone of our democratic republic.
Liberty (noun):
The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views. It includes the freedom to think, speak, act, and live without unjust interference, particularly from the government.
To be frank, people are pissed. I'm exhausted: mentally, emotionally, physically. This administration has wrung us dry, and the weight of white supremacy still hangs over everything like it always has. It’s not just about policy, it’s about survival. And when due process is stripped away, it doesn’t matter who’s innocent. If you don’t fall in line with Trump’s version of America, you’re at risk. Period.
“Capitalism is essentially racist; racism is essentially capitalist. They were birthed together from the same unnatural causes, and they shall one day die together from unnatural causes. Or racial capitalism will live into another epoch of theft and rapacious inequity, especially if activists naïvely fight the conjoined twins independently, as if they are not the same.”
— Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
There is something terrifying about living in a country where your rights are conditional, where the courts might not even hear your side because you don’t fit the narrative. Make no mistake, people are being kidnapped from their homes, schools, hospitals, and sanctuaries in droves. That kind of silence isn’t just violence, it’s strategic. It’s about control. And we’ve seen this before, in different forms, through different faces. But it’s always the same playbook: silence the people, sell them fear, and profit off their pain.
There’s a reason why private prison portfolios are seeing record profits, built on the tears of immigrants and funded by the very politicians who are supposed to protect and advocate for us, all while stripping away our rights. Take a look at the GEO group who have contracts with the Federal and State authorities.
We’re not naive. We know this fight isn’t new and won’t be over tomorrow. But it feels like people are finally realizing what’s at stake, not just for some of us, but for all of us. The system’s cracks are wide open now, and more people than ever are stepping into the fight. And that? That’s worth documenting.
To LA and every city rising up, we stand with you. You are not alone. All eyes are on you, and justice isn’t some convenient truth we can put off. When faced with a megalomaniac, our response is to speak up and show up. It’s risky, it’s inconvenient, but let’s be real: Your lives depend on it.
And let me address this: I’ve received comments telling me not to photograph people’s faces because of our sinister Big Brother. You can’t document history by erasing the truth of what’s actually happening. The second you change the events of what you photograph, you're redacting history. The historical context of the photo is just as important as the composition, if not more.
Yes, we live in a police state: I’m fully aware of that. But my photographs are not created to assist the surveillance state I oppose.
I document social justice events with integrity and through the lens of someone who has been historically overlooked.
This is about visibility, truth, and resisting the sanitized narrative pushed by mainstream media. - Adriano
All photographs are copyrighted by ©Adriano Kalin.
