here but scared

Danny Siplin was 33-years-old, he was a community builder, a dedicated son that drove his mother to work every morning, and he loved the snow.

He was found dead near his car on a bridge in Rochester. Police have alleged there was no foul play involved in his death, but details of his death have not been released to the public. The media reporting his death misgendered him on TV and in articles. He was described by his mother as someone who "give the shirt off [his] back,".

Sam Nordquist's body was found almost a year ago, also in New York, also after he had gone missing. Sam Nordquist was de-gendered by the New York Times, which initially had correctly referred to him as a trans man before changing the language to "person". Sam, a 24-year-old Black trans man, had been tortured and raped for three months before he was killed and his buddy dumped and dedicated. The media also failed him, not just by misgendered and de-gendering him but also by using photos of him pre-transition. Something that his Wikipedia page has also done.

He was described by his mother as someone who "give the shirt off his back,".

It has also been almost two years since the murder of TK Hill, a 35-year-old Black publicly transgender man, who was shot and killed in front of his home at the start of 2024. TK had been a community organizer and an LGBT salon owner. TK Hill was also described as someone who would "give the shirt off his back,".

A lot of people know about the very first piece he did when he left the post which was the The Problem We All Live With which depicts Ruby Bridges walking to school under federal protection.

But I don’t think enough people know about Murder in Mississippi which depicts three real civil rights activists who were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan and sherriffs. The magazine ran the sketch instead of the finished piece because they felt it had a more striking statement to accompany the article. Norman Rockwell would finish that version after publication which is here

Rockwell’s legacy is sanitized because he decided to maintain his job at the Post for so long despite his frustrations with not being able to express himself. The civil rights movement was just his final straw to change what he could with the little time he had left. Look magazine received a lot of hate for Rockwell painting these as well.

Another favorite piece of mine is The Right to Know which depicts an integrated populace questioning their government. In 1968, the year of Vietnam and the year the Fair Housing Act only just got signed in months prior:

But I think it’s important to include the caption Rockwell originally wrote for the piece as well. I think it represents how a 74 year old Rockwell felt about the America he believed in and the people in it: