Je suis Charlie Hebdo.

Images have been splattered all across the Internet and our television screens the last two days bearing the phrase, “Je suis Charlie Hebdo.” French for “I am Charlie Hebdo,” it has become a rallying cry in response to the 12 human beings who were assassinated by alleged Muslim extremists in Paris on Wednesday. Charlie Hebdo is a weekly Parisian newspaper internationally known for its satirical content — primarily political cartoons — that had relentlessly set its sights on the views of radical Islamic extremists. Apparently, Islamic extremists don’t have much in the way of a sense of humor and responded in the only way they seem to know how.

To the rest of the world, this massacre is another tragic terrorist attack resulting in the loss of innocent lives. To the global journalism community it is much more than that. It is a failed attempt to eradicate one of the cornerstones of a free and civilized society: the right to personal expression and free speech.

What these terrorists — these murderers — have actually succeeded in accomplishing, however, is quite the opposite. They have united — and likely emboldened — a worldwide community of journalists who have dedicated their professional lives to exposing injustice.

They also proved the talented cartoonists and writers at Charlie Hebdo right about who and what they are.

Taking on city hall at The Tidewater News clearly does not require the same gravitas as does calling out a global network of animals that would rather take your life than take their own next breath.

But it does make me proud to be professionally associated — however loosely — with the courageous individuals who did.

Godspeed to those who were killed because they exposed the truth for all to see.

Je suis Charlie Hebdo.

 

TONY CLARK is publisher of The Tidewater News and a staunch advocate for the right to free speech and expression. His email address is tonyclark@tidewaternews.com.