Black Lives Matter Boston (2014-2015)

In the summer of 2014, I started going to Black Lives Matter protests throughout the Boston area. An experienced activist, I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to take up space. I saw how few outlets were covering the protests, the way the media undercounted the turnout, focused on the most sensational aspects, and highlighted white people and politicians who attended. I decided that documenting the local iteration of the movement could be my way of contributing. Eventually I submitted this as my final photo essay for Photojournalism at Harvard Extension.

Note: All photos predate the COVID-19 pandemic. The masks were a reference to “I can’t breathe,” Eric Garner’s final words as police killed him via a chokehold.

Protesters take their route to South Bay House of Correction to show solidarity with those incarcerated inside, who hold up signs and their arms in the “hands up, don’t shoot” gesture. Police stop protesters from taking the highway as BLM chapters did in other cities that night and the night before.

In Somerville, MA

On the Harvard campus

Cambridge, MA

Near Boston Common

Protesters shut down intersections across Somerville and Cambridge with “die-ins” lasting the eight minutes and 46 seconds that police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck, killing him. In Davis Square, a car slowly crept closer to these protesters, stopping after I photographed their license plate.