Emmie America Flashes Pasha Harulia in Vogue Ukraine Human Values Fashion Story
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As the US faces a COVID Thanksgiving, AOC turns to photographer Emmie America’s (IG) September 2020 Vogue Ukraine editorial. Model Pasha Harulia is center stage with styling by Nadiia Shapoval.
The celebration of love and marriage, nature, friends and family, artisanship and a bit of human history resonates at a time when governments are failing us in differing degrees worldwide. Seeing Emmie America’s link to a Change.org petition for Russian artist (J)ulia Tsvetkova — correct spelling is Yulia Tsvetkova — underscores just how seriously the global march to authoritarianism is impacting our lives this Thanksgiving Day in America.
One can embrace all of these positive values, without embracing Trumpism or Putin.
AOC has a long history supporting Ukraine’s FEMEN activists, who have staged topless protests worldwide. I was in personal contact with founding FEMEN member Oksana Shacko, who ‘committed suicide” in Paris in July 2018. The circumstances of her death haven’t been disputed in any serious way since then.
In July 2020 FEMEN was one of multiple feminist organizations worldwide protesting on behalf of Yulia Tsvetkova, who is a LGBTQ artist as well as a feminist. (Aren’t we all, if we are legitimate!) Russian authorities are as upset by her feminism as her advocacy for gay rights and beyond — much as right-wing Republicans are in America.
In the opinion of AOC, religious extremism — whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and more — is the largest force behind these oppressive tactics worldwide. In the case of America, there’s a reason why right-wing, evangelical Republicans love Putin.
AOC has taken this position about Republican evangelicals since 2009.
It’s exactly over these issues — that Putin cracks down on all the freedoms that America’s current Republicans reject — that America’s evangelical Trump Christians love Putin. For any AOC readers who find my words shocking, this post-Trump presidency 2017 Politico article ‘How Russia Became the Leader of the Global Christian Right’ is excellent.
I’m notorious for co-opting fashion editorials and turning them political. I this case, I doubt that photographer Emmie America (IG) will mind my highlighting the case of Yulia Tsvetkova.
As Trump Republicans demand that our current presidential elections results be overthrown — because they cry sabotage and with no evidence and file one lawsuit after another — it’s critical that we all step up with all loud voices. Emmie America reminded me to do that just now.
AOC is also dogged in our research skills. One last search on Tsvetkova for the past week only brought up ‘laid bare: nude photoshoot ralies support for Russian detained feminist illustrator Yulia Tsvetkova.“ The photographer behind the photoshoot?” Emmie America. ~ Anne
