It’s been a tough few months for content creators, specifically fashion and lifestyle influencers, who rely on creative outdoor shoots to tell a story on their social media channels. Since quarantine, many of us have had to pivot our content strategy. Some of my peers transformed their apartments into mini photo studios to create amazing photos of life indoors while still maintaining their aesthetic. After all, we are all small businesses that still had to operate.
We’re going to look back on this time period some day and be able to imagine what life was like when the entire world was forced to lock itself indoors to avoid a pandemic. It will show a people full of resilience, tenacity and sometimes the frustration, anger and pain of parents shouldering the responsibility of educating their children while juggling their corporate jobs; of essential workers on the front lines feeling the anguish of losing patients; of political leaders not being able to unite to keep fears at bay.
This period will also illustrate, through images, another pandemic that raged rampant during quarantine, RACISM. As hundreds of thousands of American protested in the streets to demand the end to police brutality and hate crimes against Black people after the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Akai Gurley, Tony McDade, Nina Pop and too many lives lost, artists and content creators told their stories though photographs, graffiti, poetry, prose and song.
All over Brooklyn, young artists have been speaking out loud and clear with their brushes and spray paints to get out the message that BLACK LIVES MATTER. In my neighborhood, colorful art have popped up everywhere demanding justice, using bold colors and striking symbols. This is peaceful protest!
I see neighbors snapping photos of these walls to share with friends and family on Facebook. These images speak for themselves. They don’t require explanation. NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE!
So I’m going to continue to express myself peacefully through my work, often advocating for change with my choice of clothing, my words and my photographs.
SAY HER NAME ???? We are STILL calling for justice to be served in Breonna Taylor’s murder.
Breonna was an essential worker murdered at the height of a pandemic in her HOME. She was killed by police with a barrage of bullets that struck her at least 8 times.
They were executing a no-knock warrant for another suspect that was already in their custody. The FBI finally opened an investigation into her shooting, but no officers have been arrested, charged, or even disciplined yet.
When we say #blacklivesmatter, that must include Black women & Black LGBTQ+ lives, too. Use your voice for them just like you did for #GeorgeFloyd.
Donate, protest, petition and DEMAND #JusticeforBreonnaTaylor.
