After attending and photographing these protests, I still find this image to be the most compelling. A lone black man is riding the bus down Washington St in Naperville, IL when he sees a wall of people waving signs and fists. It is Gen Z. Their message: Black Lives Matter.
What could he have been thinking? Perhaps he felt hopeful- change is finally on the horizon. Or maybe he felt weary- after a lifetime of fighting, change has not yet come. When I showed this image to a friend, they said, "It looks like it could be the ghost of George Floyd". He, now at peace, watches the wake of his own passing.
When the bus approached me as I stood among the protestors, I saw this lone man sitting and instinctively raised my camera. Later, after seeing the image on my computer, I was moved to tears. The image has a story, but room for interpretation. It must be shared.
I live to capture beautiful moments like this one.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
September 20, 2019
Climate Protest