More about this Photo soon.
Tag Archives: black Men
“Wax on our Wounds” II
People asked if any men other then myself attended the LIPSTICK event. Five men attended. Here’s a photo of one, Rev. Odom, taken a few moments before he stood and spoke about the loss of his 13-year-old son. He spoke about how his family encourages him to go from mourning to celebration of the gifts his son was able to give during his short 13 years- on this anniversary of his death.
“After The Ferguson Decision Community Meeting” In Boston’s, Roxbury Community
On November 26, 2014 the 12th Baptist Church in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. As one would expect the meeting was very emotional for almost everyone in the room. The warm spirit of the young man, sitting behind me (not sound) caused me to turn around. The images below is what I saw. Its amazing the links between us when we come to a place with a open heart.
“Change the Narrative, Shift the Perception, Change the Image” Images Three and Four.
“Change the Narrative, Shift the Perception, Change the Image” Image Two
Day 843 “We Were There, We Excelled and We Made A Difference” Boston Marathon 2014
Yesterday was a most wonderful day. Coming off a week of being in the bed with a bad cold, I decided to do what always makes me feel better – take photos. This time it was the Boston Marathon. Honestly, I wasn’t caught up in all the emotion and celebration (for numerous reasons) so I wasn’t sure what I wanted to capture. I went out to Wellesley Center right around the 15 mile mark and the first runners I met and photographed were the Massachusetts National Guardsmen. As a vet watching them walk in step brought back memories of basic training, “Good Times”
The next group that came by was the wheelchair group. I decided it was best if I sat on the ground for their shots yet what was unexpected was how much photographing THEM inspired ME to be better. By using my 70-200mm lens, I was able to get close enough to see a bit of the pain and joy of their 26.2-mile journey.
Up next were the elite runners. I took a few power shots but didn’t really feel the “power” of their run so I decided to stick around and photograph some friends, I knew were running.
While waiting for the next group of runners, I kept reflecting back on a conference I attended at Harvard a few days before titled “Repairing The Breach”. Part of the daylong discussion was “myths about black men”. Myth: there are more black men in jail than college. Truth: there are over a half million more black men in college than in jail.
The more I sat there the more I started to think about how I could help to shift from myth to truth. Then I began thinking about how over the years, I never really saw images of runners of color, especially, the non-elite black men. I’m sure they are out there just not in my circle of knowledge. So, I decided the first step I could take so shortly after the conference was to use my camera to illustrate we were there, we excelled and we made a difference.
I focused on the men of color running. The power I felt while photographing my brothers, and the love they gave me back when they noticed me photographing them, was beyond amazing, Over the next few days, I will post a few of those images so you too can feel their POWER.
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