Answer to Question #170160 in History for Ashley

Question

In the Emmett Till video, we see how Mamie Till generates media coverage by allowing photographers to take graphic photos of her murdered son. The George Floyd video, in which the world saw a man murdered, was another example of a visual which possessed such power that it launched a movement.  

Can you think of an image or symbol which, due to media attention, ignited protests, or movement activity? Is there an example of such an image in the environmental movement? In the women's rights movement?

Answer 1

When One Mother Defied America: The Photo That Changed the Civil Rights Movement. he raw videos depict the last moments of Philando Castile‘s and Alton Sterling‘s lives. Widely shared on social media – one of them live – they have shocked an entire nation. Like the videos that showed the killings of Walter L. Scott, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner in 2014 and 2015, they provide the necessary imagery to force us to address, once again, the pervasive and inherent racial inequalities that still exist across the country.More than 60 years ago, when racial segregation was still the norm in many states, one grieving mother, Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley, understood the power of imagery to expose America’s racism.