Eyes of the Migrant Mother
May 28, 2008 by Enigma4ever
This woman and her face, her eyes are haunting. I have been using her on my posts at Watergate Summer when I want to write about the Human Condition. Her eyes are familiar,as I have been seeing more and more people with that look in their eyes. In recent weeks I have been seeing her on other blogs as well. I decided that as she haunts some of us maybe we should learn a little more about her, and maybe learn something from her.
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Her name is (or was ) Florence Owens Thompson. When the photo was taken by Dorothea Lange in 1936 she was 32 years old,she was a migrant worker living in a tent with 7 children.She and the children had been living in the fields on frozen vegetables, field scraps, and birds killed by the children. It was the Dustbowl Years, she had traveled West to California to pick the fields. This photo was taken outside Pea Fields near Nipomo California. Dorothea was traveling taking photos, hired by the Farm Security Administration to document the farm stories for the Government.Florence told Dorothea that she was a Pea Picker.She sat in her dilapitated Lean To Tent, huddled with her children about her. She anwered questions quietly, distantly. Originally Dorothea did not have her name, her children later would identify her and tell her story when their mother’s photo appeared in Magazines.( To this day there are different versions of the story).Dorothea would take 5 shots that would show her tent, and her at different angles with her children. The Tent was made of odds and ends. The car was nearby , but the tires had been sold for food.
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As more and more lose their Homes,millions in the past 2 years, and more this year than last, and this also does not include people losing their rental homes as well. My neighborhood is full of them. Vacant Houses and empty eyes….And as the Economy wracks millions, shouldn’t we be aware What we are witnessing around us ? If we are aware and reaching out to those around us and showing Compassion maybe the path will be less bitter,less Painful. Unlike the Criminal Regime which is currently managing Our Country, shouldn’t we be looking into each other’s eyes and seeing the Truth ? We have a “leader” that is unable to say the word “Recession”,and yet there are 37 Million People living in Poverty, and 20 million are Children. I see these mothers at the grocery store every week. And these mothers have These Eyes, the Eyes of a Migrant Mother.
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{{ What can you do? Put a small box in your pantry, and every time you go to the store, pick up On Extra Thing, maybe beans or rice, and put it in the Box, and when the Box is full take it to the nearest Food Bank. That Way you Know you Helped a Neighbor.}}
{{{ On another level as we approach having a New Administration, we will need People to encourage the Government to Set Up Works Programs and Programs like the one Dorothea Lange worked for that allowed her to document and photograph the Human Condition.}}}
that photo haunts me as well. there is a basic difference that i fear will always divide us from the right wing. the ability to see human suffering, to look into someone’s eyes, no matter their appearance or circumstances, and find the humanity there.
it is too easy to dismiss the suffering of those we dismiss as not like us. in seeing others as not fully human, especially when the lack of vision is the result of blaming them for their circumstances, it’s easy to discount their suffering.
thank you for this post.
bigassbelles last blog post..manufacturing a food crisis
There is a new book out with a collection of Dorothea Lange’s work:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-bk-masur25-2008may25,0,1701678.story
You can also see a slide show of some of her photos here:
http://www.latimes.com/features/books/la-bk-0525-masur-pg,0,6347844.photogallery
Big Fellas last blog post..Memorial Day 2008 - A Time To Break The Pattern
At the very least we are going to need an FDR style new Deal to help through this. Bush has spent hie entire mis-Administration killing FDR’s legacy so we will have to wait for Obama!
Jims last blog post..An Update on yesterdays story The rapidly failing economy will change Demographics! It’s moving Quickly and daily!
Jim:
You are right that some sort of New Deal(s) will be needed…much repair work….
Big Fella:
thank you for the Lange Links…she was able to capture with photographes that are amazing…
BigAssBelle:
It is so true…empathy compassion, the ability to recognize suffering it is in a way a gift for all of us… thank you..
enigma4evers last blog post..WEDNESDAY THOUGHTS….
JIM:
you are right that we will need Regime Change to bring back many FDR plans and programs….and the economy is effecting all levels of the country….
Big Fella:
Really grateful that you posted Links for Dorothea Lange, so many of these great photographers from that era don’t get enough notice…
BigAssBelle::
Thank you for saying that…it does all come about empathy…the ability to look into each other’s eyes…and walk in each others’s shoes…(I need to read your blog….)
enigma4evers last blog post..Scott McClellan On Countdown Thursday Night:::Exclusive Interview
Good post E ~ I keep hearing that food banks are really hurting right now because so many more people are in need, and there are less donations- because stores are not overstocking because of fuel costs….a damned domino effect. Also saw a story, on national news about a family that owns a trucking company that has resorted to going over the border to Mexico to buy gas for 1/2 the price (diesel is $4.89 a gal here). He said they burned through their rainy day funds, and were seriously in jeopardy of loosing the whole business. Their daughter is foregoing her graduating class trip to help the family out. They were proud of her for helping the family in this way, but were also torn up because th business they supported themselves with is going down.
They had that worried/hurting look in their eyes too.
Frans last blog post..Pete Seeger ~ A Nobel Cause
Fran:
thank you….and Those Eyes are showing up around us…so many stories…painful..and real…that poor family you describe…so true- they are caught in the Domino Effect….( Will be over to read the Pete Seegar post….there is a special on PBS on him this week..)
JIm: hopefully with Regime Change we will have revitalized FDR programs and New Deal Works….we will need Creativity and brainstorming to set in motion programes that will stop the economic hemmorhaging…
Big Fella:
thanks for the wonderful links…..her photography is inspiring…and stirring..
Bigassbelle:
thank you also for understanding the Humanity and the Empathy…under this Regime we have suffered an Empathy Deficit….
enigma4evers last blog post..Scott McClellan On Countdown Thursday Night:::Exclusive Interview
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frans last blog post..Pete Seeger ~ A Nobel Cause
Enigma, I found your comments in th spam queue. Don’t take it personal, it does it to me all the time ok?