Powerful

I will not add the image because two other student have already shared it, "Don't Shoot," ink, graphite, prisma, and water color on paper (2014). This image is gripping and speaks to everyone regarding the signs of the time.

The overwhelming show of force is what captures my attention right off the bat. Why do these Police officers have more equipment than I had while I was in the military? As a child, I was given explicit instructions by my father to speak up and assert myself as a proud American. Now, a father myself I fear my son will have difficulty since he is of African American descent on his mother’s side.

I would however like to share an image from the past that this piece of art reminded me of. Also it helps me as a Historian to bring the past into the present and add context to our current situations here at home. “Flower Power,” Bernie Boston, photograph (1967) shows a Vietnam protester in Washington, D.C. placing a flower in the barrel of a rifle help by a National Guardsman. Both images show law enforcement here in the United Sates trying to intimidate its citizens. To me the flowers represent peace, and show that the answer lies in the middle.