The “Visions of Excellence” Exhibit at the Kansas City Public Library explores prize-winning ‘Pictures of the Year’ as voted by the international society of photojournalists. Some pictures are whimsical some are disturbing, but all are profoundly moving.

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A Somali refugee and her son who fled the civil unrest in her native country

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“The  Kims” Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong-Il statues of North Korea. The family dynasty has been ruling the hermit kingdom since the late 1940’s.

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A surprising number of people actually have chickens for pets. Older hens especially are said to have a calm temperament.

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Technology comes to a class in Central Africa

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While not reported much in the US, there is a refugee crisis for the Muslim minority (Rohingya) of Myanmar (Burma). Many have escaped to India and Bangladesh to avoid persecution including murders and having their villages destroyed.

 

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Researchers have discovered that elephants are capable of complex emotions. Depression is common among zoo elephants. This is an African elephant who zookeepers have said has entirely withdrawn and stays lodged in the doorway almost continuously.

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The “Waterprotectors” are a band of predominately Sioux Indians who have been protesting the Dakota Pipeline (DAPL) that cuts across sacred ancestral lands. In this picture, protestors were shot with a water cannon even though temperatures were below zero.

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Just a man and his giant stuffed frog sitting in a parked moving van.

 

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The winner in a belly flop contest shows his award-winning move.

 

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An insurgent army in Sri Lanka who can not afford weapons trains militia members with sticks.

 

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A Moslem-American girl stands and listens to the national anthem.

 

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Two pictures which capture the growing political divide within the United States. Above a Trump supporter is punched in the face during a riot in California in 2017.  And below one person was killed, and a couple people were injured when a far-right nationalist drove his car through protestors at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia the same year.

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A bicyclist flipping off Donald Trump’s motorcade in early 2017. Through a social media campaign, the woman was identified as Juli Briskman and received death threats and faced termination at her employment. I have read she is now running for public office in Virginia although I haven’t heard she is successful or not.
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Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese non-Violence activist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize she is currently Prime Minister of Myanmar

The Visions of Excellence exhibit is at the Main Street Branch of the Kansas City Public library and admission is free.

 

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