Funny how things can change at the drop of a dime. Or at least in the course of just months. The last time I posted here was Black History Month with an amazing Fro Patrol shoot. Had some pretty big plans for the rest of the year. Including hitting the big 5-0. So many other shoot ideas, destinations and concepts on the horizon. Then along comes the Rona and everything has been downhill since. But I think we can all agree everything really hit the fan a lot more recently with the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of some cowardly Minneapolis police officers.
The whole thing put me a crossroad of such. At a few different crossroads if that’s even possible. I made an unspoken vow that I would try to keep these posts to just my photography. Really wasn’t trying to get political or definitely too controversial. The thing is with the recent events it has affected my photography. It made it so I had to say something for more than just prosperity sake. Today was an even better day to do it since it’s been earmarked as #BlackoutTuesday.
I realized that I have never really done a true Black Unity/Power or even Black Lives Matter themed shoot. It’s pretty horrible planning on my part. Every time Black History Month was rolling around I told myself I would do something then never did. The closest I ever came was some shoots I did around the same time that “Black Panther” was being released. Although throughout the year, I also did some one-off shoots that could qualify such as this one with my Frat brother Chris. Funny thing is it was actually done at my Lymphoma Awareness themed shoot. Even then I had this concept come to mind with the thought that it would fit a socially conscious post sometime in the future.
I think that part of the subconscious issue I also struggled with was the possibility of inadvertently making folks feel they’ve been segmentalized (yes..I made that word up). I’ve always prided myself on having pretty diverse clientele. Shooting all races, ethnicities, creeds, sexual orientations and everything. So would my clientele who were not people of color think I was being too radical with my ardent support of the Black Lives Matter movement? I ultimately decided that was a risk I was willing to take. People would have to just accept that this is part of who I am. I will not be on the wrong side of history by remaining silent and neutral. My legacy is more important than earning a few extra dollars.
Being upset about George Floyd’s murder was a no-brainer. Anyone with any decency whatsoever knew that was wrong. Where the dissension seemed to form was the subsequent protests and ‘riots’. I will unequivocally say that while I don’t condone rioting, I certainly condemn it. Even Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr— you know..the same one that folks always want to reference when they want folks to protest quietly? —even he said that a riot is the language of the unheard. What’s been happening is the culmination of years and years of folks getting tired of seeing no results from the other types of protests. The unheard were just trying to be heard.
The best thing that has come of all this and has been continuing to happen is people are actually finding more commonalities. We have been seeing more and more people who are not people of color also supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. They are also tired of the senseless killing of innocent unarmed Black men at the hand of the people who are supposed to be serving and protecting. They are realizing that of course all lives matter, but in order for that to be true, you have to realize the urgency of the moment that Black Lives Matter. They also see that while it’s horrible property is being destroyed, the bigger priority is that the killing of Black men has got to stop. Of course we all bleed the same... we just want our bloodshed to cease.