In response to white Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson fatally shooting black, unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown on August 9, 2014, photojournalist Bryan MacCormack hit the road to document protests against state and vigilante violence. He covered actions in Baltimore, Bloomington, Minnesota, Boston, Denver, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., among other U.S. locations. Five supercharged images from his 12-month journey:
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"Our Children Rise"
On June 27, 2015, in downtown Philadelphia, a group of about 80 protested the fatal shootings of black worshippers at Charleston, South Carolina’s, Emanuel AME Church by white supremacist, Dylann Roof. The Philly Coalition for REAL Justice coordinated the march.
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"Black Power for Black Christmas"
On December 20, 2015 an estimated 3,000 people gathered at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, for a Black Lives Matter protest against police brutality. The action, which took place on one of the busiest shopping days of the year at the largest mall in the United States, led some stores to shut down temporarily. Last week, amid a boycott, Mall of America executives and the City of Bloomington dropped tresspassing charges against 11 "alleged ringleaders" dubbed the MOA11.
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"Rising From the Rooftops"
In Baltimore, on May 2, 2015, some 10,000 people protested the fatal injuries that Freddie Gray, a black civilian, allegedly sustained in police custody on May 12. Some participants in the march, which was organized by Black Lawyers for Justice, climbed to the rooftop of a transit station on the corner of Pennsylvania and North avenues, next door to a CVS that was burned down on April 27 during civil unrest. Six city police officers—three white, three black—were indicted for various charges connected to Gray’s death on May 21.
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This Is the Fight of the Century
May 2 Freddie Gray march in Baltimore.
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"Able to Resist"
People surge at a U.S. Social Forum march in downtown Philadelphia on June 27, 2015. Led by Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania and the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, the march took place after the Charleston solidarity action in the area that day.
Bryan MacCormack is an organizer and independent photojournalist that documents social movements and cultural resistance around the world. He is the founder of Left In Focus.