The artifact above is from a protest that occurred on May 31st in Boston, Massachusetts. Carrie Mays (pictured in the artifact) is a youth activist and a sophomore at UMass Boston. She “has facilitated community events such as dialogues about racism and spoken at national conferences. Change, she said, needs to begin when we uplift the voices of young people of color” (Laucharoen). Mays helped spread awareness of the protest occurring in Boston by creating a video to tell people that it would be a powerful movement as well as peaceful: “The march began at Nubian Square and drew together what Mays called a rainbow of people, individuals of different races chanting together in solidarity” (Laucharoen). Mays helped start this protest in the fight for George Floyd. George Floyd was an African-American man who was killed during an arrest after a store clerk alleged he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis. Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Floyd continually repeated, “I can’t breathe,” however the officers there paid no attention and continued to kneel on his neck, which eventually killed him. This is where the quote “I can’t breathe” came from.
Starting in May, several protests occurred in Minneapolis, where George Floyd died. In fact, on May 5, 2020, Floyd died, and just one day after, May 26th, as well as May 27th, protests had spread from Minneapolis all the way around the country. Soon after it spread to different countries as well. This includes: “In Australia, there were major protests in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane that focused on the treatment of indigenous Australians. There were also demonstrations in France, Germany, Spain, and the UK. In Bristol, protesters tore down the statue of a 17th century slave trader and threw it into the harbor” (“George Floyd Death: US Protests Timeline”). Every state in the United States took part in these protests.
I think that this artifact is a great example because it symbolizes what everyone was thinking. People and communities were able to take part in something that will forever go into history. It is unfortunate that people do not realize that discrimination, racism, and police brutality had occurred long before this. They at least may have not realized that it was so relevant. I think by bringing light to the situation that this has happened in the past goes to prove that it is part of cultural heritage because the impact from history continues until present day. So many more individuals who were not educated on the topic of police brutality as well as racism have been taught and now have a better understanding of it.
I chose this artifact specifically because it brings a back story as well as present-day issues up front. I mainly wanted to talk about George Floyd, however this picture not only represents him but his family and a new world understanding by others. This tragic event had a big impact on his family as well as the world. You can see Carrie Mays hold up a sign that says “Daddy Changed the World,” which was said by Gianna Floyd. Gianna is George Floyd's 6-year-old daughter.
I think that our generation has helped tremendously to bring awareness to this situation mainly because we have seen it happen and grew up talking and learning a lot about it in school. However, even though we have learned so much in school there is still so much information that we missed. Especially being someone who is white, I did not grow up experiencing racism and discrimination. I did not grow up having to be afraid of cops or having to be worried that someone would come up to me and discriminate against me just because of my skin color. I am happy to see that so many other people who are white as well, or anyone who simply just has not dealt with this horrible situation, have started to bring their attention to it all. Our generation wants to make a difference and by using social media to spread the word, and to tell when protests were, or just fight back and stand up to racists, we now have a whole new understanding of what minority races go through every day. Now, newer and younger generations are able to grow up with the Black Lives Matter movement, which will hopefully lead them to change the world in a better way for minorities that unfortunately still deal with discrimination, police brutality, and racism.
This tragic event of course brought a lot of attention and controversy, which is why the protests and backlash has been so intense within 2020 and even in 2021. As this topic of Black Lives Matter occurred around the world, and was brought attention to myself and others, I had several questions. The questions that were raised were not technically ones that I would ask anyone. They are more of ones that I let myself think about because it is not common sense that anyone would be able to answer on the spot. I always want to know: why have we as a country and people in general let this discrimination of other races get to this point? Why did we let this happen in the first place? I always ask myself why anyone would see other people as different just because of their skin color, and why do people think its okay to be racist? What makes Black people and minorities not like white people? We are all the same on the inside, and I think that 2020 was not only a year of disasters, but also a year where people became more educated and willing to stand up for what is right when it comes to these topics.
“George Floyd Death: US Protests Timeline.” BBC News, 4 June 2020, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52921418.
Laucharoen, Shira. “Youth Organizers Experiences Tear Gas, Solidarity on Front Lines of Protest.” Dig Bos, 11 June 2020, https://digboston.com/youth-organizers-experience-tear-gas-solidarity-on-front-lines-of-protests/.
The artifact above was taken by a local photographer, Dan Holmes. This photo was taken in Hopedale, Massachusetts, and shows an active protest that took place for the Black Lives Matter movement. This picture shows Jackson Tahmoush, a resident of Hopedale, kneeling on the ground along with several other people of the community and surrounding towns.
Back on May 5, 2020, George Floyd died. This tragic event inspired protests all over Minneapolis and also spread by word and social media to surrounding states, as well as the entire country and other countries. As a matter of fact, “about 15 million to 26 million people in the United States have participated in demonstrations over the death of George Floyd and others in recent weeks," which “would make the recent protests the largest movement in the country’s history” (Buchanan et. al.). George Floyd's death was very controversial, however many people throughout the world had a belief that what had happened was not okay considering the way that the arrest took place as well as how the officers involved reacted. Although a horrible event, May 5th, 2020, changed the world completely.
During this march that took place during June, marchers wore faces masks, held signs and posters, and also yelled out chants for everyone to hear. When the participants got to the field where everyone gathered, everyone “knelt for nine minutes, many with one fist raised, to mark the approximate time an officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck” (Bosma). After this happened, several people took turns speaking while being in the center of everyone for over an hour. The people who spoke decided to talk about their reactions, opinions, and even, for some, their daily struggles with racism and discrimination. This whole protest all started by Tahmoush posting on social media, which eventually turned into hundreds of people around the area taking a strong march throughout the town of Hopedale to show our solidarity with the movement and protest of the tragic event that took place just recently before. As “Jackson Tahmoush told the assembled crowd, shouting to be heard by those in the back, several yards away. ‘We’re all here for the same reason…it’s not politics. It's human rights” (Bosma). The reason I chose this specific quotation from the article discussing the Hopedale protest is because it made me really focus on the matter that all the controversy that was going on was becoming complete BS to me. I had heard so many people, specifically the older generation, talk about how this was all politics, and that George's death was all for politics, considering the election was just a few months around the corner. It is sad to think that people think that way and do not simply feel as if it happened because of bad cops and racism combined.
The main reason why I decided to include this specific artifact was because I was there at this exact protest. Being from Milford, just one town away from Hopedale, I have grown up with a lot of diversity around me. When I heard what happened and the news about the Black Lives Matter movement and the death of George Floyd by police brutality, it really angered me. I do not want to keep continuing living in a world where racism is shown and projected every day. As a white teenager, it is hard to relate to those that have gone through discrimination because of their race because I have not. I chose to go to this protest because Black lives matter to me, and I wanted to bring attention to the fact that human rights should be given to everyone. No one is different on the inside just because of the color of their skin, nor should they be treated differently because of how they look compared to someone of a different race. I wanted to connect my experience, and I think by choosing this artifact I was able to do that. I was able to show what happened throughout one of my own communities and allow others to get a feeling of how different towns handled the riots, protests, and overall backlash of George Floyd's death. Thankfully, the protest here in Hopedale that I went to was peaceful unlike other places in the United States, where things became violent.
One major thing that connects to my exhibition is that cultural heritage was created throughout the protest. This artifact shows several people kneeling for a movement that had stricken many throughout the world. What people do not see is that this movement happened with just a touch of a button on social media. One post was made about it, and the next thing you know it was given huge attention across the entire Hopedale community as well as the surrounding towns. So many people heard about it because of people from all generations sharing the post and details of the march. This is showing cultural heritage because it's allowing for both the past and present to come together. The past is all of the discrimination, racism, and police brutality that has happened throughout history. Because of the history of all these, many people became fed up with it and wanted to fix the problem and try to make a change in the world. Thankfully, because of technology and social media, this was able to happen. If there was no social media or anyone who had cared, then George Floyd's death would not have been as broadcasted. I believe that all these protests that happened made a huge change throughout the world when it comes to racism and police brutality. Hopefully, the world continues to see this issue as a problem every day and not just a trend, because Black lives will always matter.
Bosma, Alison. “Show of solidarity.” Milford Daily News, Milford Daily https://www.milforddailynews.com/story/news/local/2020/06/04/hundreds-march-for-justice-in-hopedale/42437473/
Buchanan, Larry, et. al. “Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History.” The New York Times, 3 July 2020, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/07/03/us/george-floyd-protests-crowd-size.html.
As almost everyone is aware from recent and past events during the last year and this present year of 2021, the Black Lives Matter movement has swept all across the nation. It started off in just Minneapolis, Minnesota, and before we knew it, the movement had spread all over the to different states and countries within just a few weeks. However, as much as the movement has done its job at creating a continuing change in the world, there have been a few events that had taken place based off of getting justice and standing up for what is right.
In the artifact that is above, I chose a picture of a statue of Christopher Columbus. However, you would not know it was him because his stone head was broken off by civilians throughout the community of Boston, MA. This action did not happen in just one state: “protesters in Massachusetts, Minnesota and Virginia have targeted statues of Christopher Columbus, damaging or pulling down three in a matter of days” (Machemer). This specific incident took place in the “North End’s waterfront around 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday” (Dwyer).
Some people may ask: why was the statue of Christopher Columbus taken down? Well, my answer to that is because, to several people out there in the world, Christopher Columbus is considered a “representative of slavery or colonial oppression” (Dwyer), causing people to want to tear down the statues. With the Black Lives Matter movement going on, the toppling of these statues was seen as a move to make a change in the world to lead in the correction of a figure who was taught to generations that he was good for our country. People wanted to prove a point that Christopher Columbus actually was not. In the United States school system, it is taught to children that Columbus discovered America, however there are some facts that were left out of the lesson that people now want to bring attention to. Charlie Duffield stated that “the Italian explorer is responsible for the genocide and exploitation of native peoples in the Americas," as well as that Christopher Columbus “was a murderer of indigenous people, mainstreaming the genocidal culture against indigenous people." A reaction to this was hatred and disrespect from communities of all kinds, including those who are Indigenous. As a result, from this research and new understanding that Christopher Columbus was racist and more than just a figure of history who “discovered America,” Columbus Day which is typically celebrated on the second Monday of October each year, is now being called by some people “Indigenous Day.” I support this decision in calling it Indigenous Day because why would I want to celebrate someone who was cruel and racist?
I specifically chose this picture to use as my artifact simply because I think it brings a good closing to my exhibition theme. I chose Black Lives Matter because it is an important movement to me, and I have learned so much about it, and the reasons behind the movement. My knowledge has grown immensely on this topic. The Black Lives Matter movement has been broadcasted by many around the world, and the situation of the statues being torn down, I think, has been an eye-opening ordeal to many people. I had not known about Columbus and his racist past and what he had done to Indigenous people. I think that bringing attention to who he was and tearing down his head off the statue will help to publicize this new idea of him.
Black Lives Matter includes people of all types of races that support the movement. The whole point of this movement is to bring an awareness and change to how people of color and of other races are treated. The only way things will change is by communities making that change themselves. Being silent is not an option when it comes to broadcasting a movement. By tearing off Christopher Columbus’s head, people will want to know why and learn what he did. Standing up to racist people is a big part of the movement, so if that means making a change to previous history landmarks that are honoring racism, then so be it.
As mentioned before, I do not care to support a holiday that honors someone who was racist. This opinion, I am sure, can cause a lot of backlash from the public, especially from older white generations. This is a topic I want to touch on because I think bringing attention to it can teach a lot of people who do not have the knowledge that others do. As someone who is white, I did not know anything about Columbus, other than that he had “discovered America.” Why would I know anything else about him, especially if that is all we were taught about as kids in school? Someone who is Indigenous though may know more about it because Columbus targeted their race and culture. The main point I am trying to make is that I have noticed that people do not pay attention or care about an issue until it really affects them or someone they love.
Although I grew up where there was a decent amount of diversity, I had not been close to anyone who went through discrimination or racism, so to me as a younger kid it was as if it did not exist. After growing up and meeting new people and befriending people of all races and living through 2020 with the protests and Black Lives Matter movement, I have been made more aware of it. I think that school systems should start teaching more about racism and discrimination when it comes to the past because what is happening in the present day right now is just as important as what happened in the past and was caused by it. By not teaching new generations about racism and racist figures, it goes against support of Black Lives Matter. The whole movement is trying to bring attention to the subject of police brutality, discrimination, and racism against people of the African-American race, and I think that by teaching all kids about it, no matter what their race is, then they will grow up to know what is right and what is wrong. This goes especially when it comes to racism and discrimination. Kids will be able to point it out and hopefully stand up to wrongful acts.
Duffield, Charlie. “Here's Why Statues of Christopher Columbus Are Being Pulled Down.” Inews, 12 July 2020, https://inews.co.uk/news/christopher-columbus-racist-statues-pulled-down-us-prorests-explorer-443647.
Dwyer, Dialynn. “Head Removed from Christopher Columbus Statue in Boston.” Boston.com, 10 June 2020, https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2020/06/10/christopher-columbus-statue-beheaded-boston.
Machemer, Theresa. “Christopher Columbus Statues Beheaded, Pulled Down Across America.” Smithsonian Magazine, 12 June 2020, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/christopher-columbus-statues-beheaded-torn-down-180975079/.
This artifact was so important during its time period because it pushed people to raise questions about the torture that occurred when it came to African Americans. When people look at the slashes on Gordons back they are forced to think about the mistreatment that continues to happen to African Americans even in the current day. Even though the mistreatment in this day in age may not be physical, people still are pushed to think about how the racism and discrimination that occurred in 1860 still continues in 2021, even though it is a different form.
Kleinman, Avery. “Museums Are Filled With Stolen African Art, Is It Time To Return it?” The 1A, 2020, https://the1a.org/segments/art-repatriation-museums/. Accessed 12 September 2020.
McGlone, Peggy and Kennicott, Philip. The Top 36 Must-See Items at the African American Museum. The Washington Post, 2016. The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/lifestyle/national-museum-of-african-american-history-and-culture/must-see-exhibit-items/.
The Boston Red Sox dealt with backlash and addressed it, but their fans are a part of the problem. They wanted to do a good deed and stand with those whose voices are not being heard. They also want to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement throughout their baseball season. A fan tweeted “BLM vision is not about black lives, it’s about tearing down the country to replace it with some gobblygook ideas,”. There is always going to be different opinions all around, but the Boston Red Sox did what they thought was right in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement.
"The George Floyd effect; Black Lives Matter." The Economist, 12 Dec. 2020, p. 29(US). Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A644479772/ITOF?u=mlin_c_fitchcol&sid=ITOF&xid=0d023984.
Simkins, Chris. 'Black Lives Matter' Movement Seeks Reforms to End Police Brutality. Federal Information & News Dispatch, LLC, Washington, 2015. ProQuest,https://fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/reports/black-lives-matter-movement-seeks-reforms-end/docview/1752211437/se-2?accountid=10896.
Smith, Deyscha. Sam Kennedy Explained the 'Black Lives Matter' Billboard Outside Fenway Park. 23 July 2020,www.boston.com/sports/boston-red-sox/2020/07/23/sam-kennedy-response-black-lives-matter-billboard-fenway-park.
Asmelash, L. (2020, July 23). The Boston Red SOX put up a Black Lives matter billboard over the Massachusetts Turnpike. Retrieved April 02, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/22/us/boston-red-sox-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html
Rose, Jordan. “Boston Fans Called Out Over Racist Comments Following Red Sox Black Lives Matter Banner.” Complex, Complex, 23 July 2020, www.complex.com/sports/2020/07/boston-fans-called-out-over-racist-comments-red-sox-black-lives-matter-banner.
Tawa, John, Ruqian Ma, and Shinji Katsumoto. ""all Lives Matter": The Cost of Colorblind Racial Attitudes in Diverse Social Networks." Race and Social Problems, vol. 8, no. 2, 2016, pp. 196-208. ProQuest, https://fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/scholarly-journals/all-lives-matter-cost-colorblind-racial-attitudes/docview/1787037480/se-2?accountid=10896, doi:http://dx.doi.org.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s12552-016-9171-z.
Mudallal, Zainab. 'Black Lives Don't Matter' Graffiti among Hate Acts Around U.S. After Trump Win: Reports of Vandalism and Harassment Across the Country Appear to be Inspired by the Election. WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, Washington, 2016. ProQuest, https://fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/blogs-podcasts-websites/black-lives-dont-matter-graffiti-among-hate-acts/docview/1837878605/se-2?accountid=10896.
mhanson@masslive.com, Melissa Hanson |. “As Black Lives Matter Mural Is Painted in Worcester, Community Hopes Art Will Help Spur Conversations.” Masslive, 15 July 2020, www.masslive.com/worcester/2020/07/as-black-lives-matter-mural-is-painted-in-worcester-community-hopes-art-will-help-spur-conversations-and-change.html.
Barnes, George. “Black Lives Matter Mural Painted on Worcester Street.” Worcester Telegram, Telegram & Gazette, 15 July 2020, www.telegram.com/story/news/2020/07/15/black-lives-matter-mural-painted-on-worcesterstreet/113738294/.
Craig S. Semon, Worcester Telegram. “'Beyond the Paint' Spotlights Artists behind Black Lives Matter Mural.” Telegram & Gazette, Worcester Telegram, 13 Aug. 2020, https://amp.telegram.com/amp/113861886
Barnes, George. “Black Lives Matter Mural in Worcester Damaged.” Worcester Telegram, Telegram & Gazette, 24 July 2020, www.telegram.com/story/news/2020/07/24/black-lives-matter-mural-in-worcester-damaged/113761386/.
Chan, Tiffany. "George Floyd Mural Defaced In Stoneham." CBS Boston, 8 June 2020, https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/06/08/george-floyd-mural-stoneham-defaced/.
Placek, Christopher. "Mayor condemns vandalism of church's 'Black Lives Matter' sign Vandalism: Rally at church set for today." Daily Herald [Arlington Heights, IL], 7 Aug. 2020, p. 1. Gale OneFile: News,https://go-gale-com.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=STND&u=mlin_c_fitchcol&id=GALE%7CA631851533&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon
Sorensen, Sally J. Meanwhile in Marshall, Minnesota: George Floyd Memorial Vandalized — and Rebuilt — again. Newstex, Maynard, 2020. ProQuest, https://fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.fitchburgstate.idm.oclc.org/blogs-podcasts-websites/meanwhile-marshall-minnesota-george-floyd/docview/2427226114/se-2?accountid=10896.
The first LGBT artifact that I would like to talk about is a signed 2014 Brooklyn Nets Jason Collins Jersey. The material of this jersey is polyester and ink. The jersey appears to be in good condition and there are very few distinguishing marks or blemishes. It is signed by Jason Collins and his teammates; Alan Anderson, Andray Blatche, Kevin Garnett, Jorge Gutierrez, Joe Johnson, Andrei Kirilenko, Shaun Livingston, Brook Lopez, Paul Pierce, Mason Plumlee, Marquis Teague, Mirza Teletovic, Marcus Thornton and Deron Williams. The jersey is currently located at the National Museum of African American History & Culture. What makes this jersey so significant is that it belonged to the first openly gay athete in the NBA, Jason Collins. Following the 2012-13 season, Collins came out as gay in a Sports Illustrated article from April of 2013. He then became a free agent and signed with the Brooklyn Nets in 2014. Coming out made Collins the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues, (NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL). Jason Collins has set the stage for every LGBT athlete to come after him. This jersey represents Jason Collins paving the way for LGBT athletes and becoming more accepted in the professional sports community. In an article called “‘I am happy to start the conversation’: Examining sport media framing of Jason Collins’ coming out and playing in the NBA,” by Edward M Kian and Danny Shipka from Oklahoma State University, and Eric Anderson from the University of Winchester, UK, it provides “A textual analysis examined US media framing of National Basketball Association (NBA) player Jason Collins’ coming out as the first ‘active’ gay athlete in one of the four most popular US professional men’s team sport leagues.” The article states that “matters have been slower to evolve within one major American cultural / entertainment institution – sport, particularly the four most popular men’s professional team sports. That appeared to change in April 2013 when basketball player Jason Collins became the first openly gay active athlete in any of the four major USA-based professional male team sport leagues: Major League Baseball (MLB), National Basketball Association (NBA), National Football League (NFL), and National Hockey League (NHL).” Even knowing that he would be judged, ridiculed and threatened, Jason Collins knew that he had to be the first one to take the step. He had to work up the courage to give LGBT athletes a more welcoming and accepting future in sports. The article also states, “Only seven previous professional athletes from these leagues had announced they were gay. None were well known to American sports fans and all came out publicly well after finishing their careers (Kian et al., 2011).” Professional athletes only came out after being retired because they knew there were so many negative things they would have to deal with. They feared their coach and team mates not being accepting, getting kicked off the team, being physically attacked, fans not being accepting or being protested. Even though things are not as bad today, these are still things that athletes fear. Jason Collins only came out in 2013, that was only eight years ago. It took a long time for a professional athlete to stand up and finally speak their truth. In another part of the article the authors also state, “Collins’ coming out and later suiting up for the Nets provided a long-awaited opportunity to analyze media reaction to a gay athlete in one of the ‘Big 4’ professional American team sports. How media framed the meanings, significance, and ramifications of Collins’ self-outing and his actually competing as an openly gay athlete in one of America’s popular men’s team sports are important to examine for future coverage of openly gay athletes and the overall place of homosexuality in sport.” As expected by Collins or literally any LGBT individual, the media jumps right on a big name coming out. Although it is important to cover and share an important moment like this in history, negative media coverage is incredibly harmful. False stories, rumors and disapproval online hurt a person’s image and are online forever. In another article called “The Art of Coming Out: Traditional and Social Media Frames Surrounding the NBA’s Jason Collins,” by Andrew C. Billings , Leigh M. Moscowitz, Coral Rae1, and Natalie Brown-Devlin, the authors talk about the aftermath of Collins’ coming out on social media. The authors bring up the point that, “Consumerist media representations have perpetuated only particular categories of gay men and lesbian women, relegating many other gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and queer identities to the margins.24 To be gay in the media has meant you are young, white, wealthy, oftentimes male, physically anchored to dominant notions of masculinity, severed from the larger LGBTQ community, and removed from queer politics.” The media tries to shape LGBT individuals into what they want them to look like and do not allow diversity. This is another big problem related to why social media can be harmful to the LGBT community. The last thing that I would like to discuss is a statement from “‘I am happy to start the conversation’: Examining sport media framing of Jason Collins’ coming out and playing in the NBA” saying, “competitive sport has served as a social institution principally organized around the political project of defining certain forms of masculinity as acceptable, while denigrating other forms of masculinity (Crossett, 1990).” People have a set idea in their minds about what a professional athlete is supposed to look like, act like and think like. When an athlete steps out of that box people have a lot to say about it, both positive and negative. Jason Collins was the first one to take that risk. All of these contingencies are what the jersey represents. It is an embodiment of the trials and tribulations of what Jason Collins had to go through when coming out.
Kian EM, Anderson E, Shipka D. ‘I am happy to start the conversation’: Examining sport media framing of Jason Collins’ coming out and playing in the NBA. Sexualities. 2015;18(5-6):618-640.
Billings AC, Moscowitz LM, Rae C, Brown-Devlin N. The Art of Coming Out: Traditional and Social Media Frames Surrounding the NBA’s Jason Collins. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 2015;92(1):142-160.