Today I’m going to be addressing the black lives matter art which is so prevalent during these extraordinary times. Protesting all around the United States as well as many other countries show unity as well as anger that people have towards this issue. Racism and police brutality has been long ignored in the United States no matter how prevalent it has been. Today I’m going to focus specifically on the photography aspect of art.

 The main thing about photography that I find very powerful is it shows real people in real situations.  The images from the protest also show unity and bring hope to people because of how diverse the demographic of the protesters are. It shows that this issue isn’t a black vs. white issue, it is a human rights issue. One focus of the photography which I also appreciate is showing the safety measures people are taking, for example wearing masks during these COVID-19 times. Many people like to say that it’s irresponsible to protest during a pandemic,  however, we can see that people are taking measures to protect themselves as well as others. Another powerful thing that’s to talk if he’s able to highlight is the creativity of sign making. The picture below which reads “America not AmeriKKKa”  is incredibly powerful. Even having a basic understanding of the KKK you know that it is a white supremacist organization that primarily terrorizes African Americans. it brings up the thought-provoking idea that the Ku Klux Klan still has a large say in how the country is operated. It forces you to look into the history of the KKK in the US,  and if you do your research you uncover The horrible crimes that they committed.

As an art student, I also found the political cartoons interesting to analyze as they were able to rope in history and humor into this issue the image below shows the hypocrisy of police brutality increase for a protest I think that online photography with shows real situations cartoons have the ability to show a layer of truth which is not obvious in the real world.  I feel like all the cartoons below of Martin Luther King fast people to remember important figures in this movement and think about how disappointed they would be that this issue has still not been addressed. The dialogue in that cartoon that reads “ I have a nightmare” plays on the famous “I have a dream speech” which he gave. The background in this image also shows a large protest it’s well as Donald Trump, I think this signifies the  US vs them confrontation which is currently happening.  people are being called out for the indifference as well as their past races acts which are now coming back to haunt them. In this situation it is clear that there is no indifference, there is only ignorance. I think everyone is being forced to come to a conclusion on where they stand in this issue which I feel is key to creating real change.