Harvey Castro

Documentary photographer, visual storyteller
   
Justice for George: 8FORTY6
Public Project
Justice for George: 8FORTY6
Copyright Harvey Castro 2024
Date of Work May 2021 - Jun 2020
Updated Feb 2021
Topics Action, Activism, Analog Photography, Arrests and Prosecutions, Black and White, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights, Community, Documentary, Editorial, Historical, Human Rights, Photography, Photojournalism, Protest, Revolution, Social Justice
In July 2019, I went to visit family in Mississippi. I’d wake up early to stretch and go for a morning run around their sub-division. Every day, as I made my way out the door, I remember to take note of their address and to make sure I had their contact info accessible just in case something came up. As I ran around the neighborhood, I always maintained situational awareness, taking mental notes on the surrounding environment. I made sure to present myself in the least threatening way possible to smile as I passed people.

When the protests following George Floyd’s death began, a friend asked me why I was photographing them. I learned about being the “you people” at an early age. My attentiveness and actions on these early morning runs were to avoid any trouble. Black, indigenous, and people of color have been getting lynched, murdered, raped, and socially and economically shackled for centuries. Sometimes, for something as simple as looking at someone. You could say my action was in response to psychological trauma passed from generation to generation. However, the time to break this tradition is now more than ever.
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Justice for George: 8FORTY6 by Harvey Castro
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