I have always been apolitical in the sense that I might put myself at risk for a family member or for a friend, I would never do it for a faith –religious or political. I don’t trust people enough to do it.
Even so, there is a sense of both admiration and increduility for the twelve members of the editorial staff at the political satire magazine “Charlie Hebdo” murdered by Islamic Terrorists for funning on Islam and the prophet Mohammed. According to the BBC
“Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, 47, had received death threats in the past and was living under police protection.
French media have named the three other cartoonists killed in the attack as Cabu, Tignous and Wolinski, as well as Charlie Hebdo contributor and French economist Bernard Maris.
The attack took place during the magazine’s daily editorial meeting.
At least four people were critically wounded in the attack.
The satirical weekly has courted controversy in the past with its irreverent take on news and current affairs. It was firebombed in November 2011 a day after it carried a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.”
So, they knew what they were facing and faced in anyway.
Pop music has had similar encounters due to its political beliefs. Peter Tosh is an obvious example, but look what happened to Pussy Riot? Jailed, and quite as simple as that. The threat to rock and roll used to be kinda constant. From Elvis Presley to Johnny Rotten (rotten was slice and diced by a nutcase back in 1977). From folkies like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger to free speech stalwarts like Frank Zappa to Tom Robinson standing up for gay rights back when it was a very scary thing to do, through Rock Against Racism, backwards to Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young’s outraged “Ohio”, through the death threats against Lennon and Ono, the threat is everywhere.
In those terms, rock has always been about freedom of expression, but not to the level of journalists, who refuse to be kowtowed into submission, who fight for the freedom to say whatever it is they think they should say, go and report, and also, use satire to show the dangers of Islamic and all other forms of extremism.
At “Charlie Hebdo” the brutality of extremism went up against the freedom of political satirists and extremism lost as the world as one gasped in repugnance. How rock and roll can you get.