Sometimes, a picture tells a story better than words ever could.
Such an image appeared in this newspaper Monday as part of coverage of Sunday’s vigil on the Greenfield Town Common in remembrance of the victims of that morning’s massacre at an Orlando gay nightclub.
The face stained with tears and lined with anguish on the front page belonged to Greenfield At-Large Town Councilor Penny Ricketts, whose expression more than anything conveyed the grief not just of her town, but of a nation rocked by what’s being termed the largest act of domestic terrorism in American history.
I have no doubt that Penny’s emotions were authentic, because I know how deep her love of community goes. I saw her shed similar tears on Election Night two years ago — tears of joy that time — after winning a long-coveted Town Council seat by a mere five votes.
So imagine my utter shock when I learned several Greenfield department heads, including the mayor, were anonymously emailed a copy of that same Recorder photo where someone had Photoshopped a watermelon under Penny’s left arm.
Yes, you read that last part correctly.
And as revolting as the image was, there were others to top it. The second offering was a photo of Penny in mid-sentence at a Human Rights Commission hearing, only this time, the anonymous photo-shopper superimposed a plate inside her lips, to resemble a woman of the Mursi tribe in Africa. The third and most hideous photo placed Penny’s head atop the last body at the end of a line of naked-from-the-waist up African-American women underneath the caption “Republic Of The Congo, Graduating Class, 1968.”
If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I might not have believed it. But it wasn’t until I checked with Town Clerk Deb Tuttle and confirmed the emailed photographs’ authenticity, that they had been sent to every town department head and that the IT department was investigating, that I began to realize this was actually happening in my hometown.
I mean, what the hell is going on here? Is this what passes for political discourse these days?
I remember when the worst thing we argued about was whether to bring a Wal-Mart to town. Now, we have Jewish business owners being threatened with having their coffee roasting facility turned into another “Auschwitz” because it causes an offensive odor, and the lone African-American woman in town government is the focus of a humiliating and cowardly cyber-attack intended to humiliate her in front of the people she has to work regularly while doing the people’s business.
I know the actions of two knuckleheads do not reflect the views of an entire community, but there is something particularly dark and ugly about this incident, which, ironically enough, came less than 24 hours before Penny was to introduce a tolerance resolution to the council in the wake of the Pierce Brothers anti-Semitic threat that was the focus of a Monday hearing of the Human Rights Commission hearing, of which she is a member.
I don’t know if the person who sent those photos was in the room that night. I do, however, have his or her email address, which I used to try to make contact in an attempt to glean some understanding as to why they would send such trash. Not surprisingly, I received no reply, but maybe the cops will have more luck getting the answer, and my personal hope is that they take their time extracting it, if you get my meaning.
It would have probably been easier for Penny to issue a “no comment” in response, but instead she chose to punch back with a courage and tenacity I dare say not many of us might exhibit in similar circumstances.
“If this act of cowardice was meant to silence me, I will only speak louder now,” she wrote. “If this act of hate was meant to scare me, I am emboldened by it.”
“If this act of bigotry was meant to hurt me, know that it has given me more courage,” she added. “If this was a threat, I will not stand down … hate has no place in Greenfield.”
But, fortunately for us, it does have a place for good people like Penny Ricketts, who we can only pray will not allow this horrible incident to prevent her from continuing to serve the community she loves, even when some of its members clearly don’t deserve it.
Chris Collins, who worked in local radio in a number of capacities, has observed political life in Franklin County for years. He also is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and a Greenfield native.