Open Letter to The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

SOURCE: Congress of Racial Equality/www.core-online.org

Dear Mr. Roy Innis,

Last night, I arrived at my church for an evening meeting and before it began I went to our mailbox to gather the day’s correspondence. Mixed in with other mail, I found a copy of your organization’s national newsletter entitled “CORE Freedoms” which had the byline: “A Newsletter On Energy And The Environment.” I had a few moments before my meeting began so I decided to skim through it. After reading the cover story, I opened it up and was shocked at what I saw.

On page 2, there is an article designating you as the author entitled, “Energy Fraud! The perpetrators belong in jail – not in Congress” I read the content of your article which basically raises concerns about the “green energy” movement in this country and highlights your recent book, Energy Keepers – Energy Killers: The New Civil Rights Battle. I understand that you have concerns about how poor people and “minority” communities will be impacted by the “green revolution.” You stated that it is the position of CORE that the U.S. Government should focus on expanding onshore and offshore drilling, increasing domestic petroleum, coal, and nuclear power “while also fostering conservation, wind, solar, and other energy opportunities.” While I’ve not had the opportunity to read your book, it is my opinion that CORE’s position on energy is at best suspect considering the fact that you have a dubious list of major corporate sponsors including: Exxon Mobil Corporation, Shell Oil, and Occidental Petroleum which engages in “oil and natural gas exploration, production, transportation, and marketing” touting itself as the “largest oil producer in Texas.” All of these companies have a BIG largely one-sided stake in the global warming debate. If they are among your “major corporate sponsors,” and CORE’s position aligns with their talking points, then I know you’ll understand why I can’t place too much weight in your organization’s position on the matter. In the words of Haki Madhubuti, “it is generally understood that he who butters your bread dictates your appetite” and right now Big Oil butters your bread. (As an aside – I find it absolutely laughable that you have both the American Cancer Society and Philip Morris, the largest tobacco company in the U.S. as major financial contributors to CORE.)

However, that’s not what really shocked me. I was shocked to see on page 2 an accompanying picture to your article that I immediately recognized. I recognized the picture because I TOOK IT! It is a picture that I personally took with my Canon Rebel XT camera while participating in a rally alongside residents of East Baltimore who were demanding just housing policies and fighting gentrification efforts on October 18, 2008. You’ve posted the picture that I personally took, next to your article that I have reservations about and what’s more you have a misleading caption to the picture. Your caption says: “Senior citizens are feeling the pain from rising energy prices for gas and home heating oil.” Sir, that rally had NOTHING to do with energy prices. It was a rally organized by residents of East Baltimore and an organization called SAVE MIDDLE EAST ACTION COALITION (SMEAC) to fight the unjust, gentrification polices of Johns Hopkins Hospital.

I am dismayed that you would 1) steal my photograph without extending the common courtesy of asking for its use which is standard practice by respectable online journalists, 2) neglect to even give me a photo credit in your newsletter for my photograph, and 3) place a misleading caption under a photograph of which you are totally ignorant of that photograph’s context. (You do the same thing on page 6 of your newsletter where you have a picture of gospel singer, Pastor Timothy Wright and his late wife with the caption, “Black evangelicals worship and educate youth about affordable energy.” Sir, -again that photograph had NOTHING to do with affordable energy! It was a worship service where Pastor Wright’s church was honoring him for his pastoral leadership.)

Toward that end, I am requesting that you print a STATEMENT OF CLARIFICATION on your website and in the next edition of your CORE Freedoms newsletter explaining that the photograph used on page 2 of the March 2009 edition of CORE Freedoms was used without permission, out of its context, and with a misleading caption. I, Rev. Heber Brown, III, should also be identified as the photographer and source of the picture. Be sure to inform your readers that the views and opinions of CORE do not necessarily reflect the views of Rev. Heber Brown, III.

For future reference, I strongly recommend that you investigate the use of stock photographs so that you will never again run the risk of litigation for copyright infringement. If funding for buying stock photographs isn’t in the budget, there are sites out there that offer FREE stock photographs. If there is a photo on someone else’s site that you just have to have, contact that person and ask to use it explaining how it would be used. Most bloggers will allow you to use their photos and only ask that you site them (or their website) as the source.

Now admittedly, there is gray area related to the rules of using online photographs. Some photos have entered the realm of public domain and are therefore used liberally for different purposes without protest. For example, you’ll rarely see newspapers go after bloggers for swiping photos of President Obama during a press conference. It’s generally understood that President Obama is very much so in the “public domain” arena and therefore pictures of him in public are fair game. However, when attempting to grab other photos – especially ones like the one you took from me that had a caption explaining its context (which you chose to ignore) – it’s always better to ask first unless it is clear that they are ok to use.

(I am attempting to do better in regard to photo/image etiquette as well. While I’ve not always followed the “rules,” I’m more sensitive to them now because I’ve invested much time, energy, and money into the photographs that I upload to the internet.)

I thank you for your attention to this matter and look forward to your retraction in the next edition of CORE Freedoms.

Thank you,

Rev. Heber Brown, III
Creator/Editor/Owner
Faith In Action Online Blog
www.faithinactiononline.com

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