I took the photo above of the activist Kevin Moran nearly half an hour before his arrest at a protest march in Atlanta. Mr. Moran advocates for the civil rights of people of color, and he was quite vocal during a recent demonstration down Peachtree Rd. in Buckhead. In short, the man demanded justice, specifically in regard to people of color and the biased, violent, and often fatal tactics that police reserve for us. The activism of this gentleman lead to his arrest and hospitalization at Grady Memorial Hospital with injuries sustained while he was being detained by an Atlanta police officer.
Kevin Moran was near me for the first fifteen blocks of the march, and his voice resounded with all of the authority of his years as he made his activism known. He is pleading with white America to recognize the degree to which the criminal justice system is biased, racist, and decidedly unjust.
Mr. Moran was injured and hospitalized during the march. His shoulder does not rotate backward with full mobility, and though he told the arresting officer about his inability to put both hands behind his back, 68 year old Kevin Moran’s shoulder was forced backward as he was handcuffed. His shoulder was dislocated, and from his hospital bed he made a plea that all brothers and sisters of color be treated with respect and dignity, citing years of oppression and indignity that has built up to this moment in history. He was among 16 protesters arrested that day. The video of Mr. Moran, posted to the twitter feed of activist Jim Chambers with the Rise Up organization is below:
Powerful Video of 68yo Kevin Moran in the hospital, injured while being detained by APD today. #ATLisReady pic.twitter.com/FyQMucsoGw
— Jim Fergie Chambers (@jccfergie) July 12, 2016
Among the most infuriating aspects of the arrest of this elder is the fact that the police handcuffed him to his hospital bed by the ankle for several hours, despite the fact that he was clearly in pain and obviously not going anywhere. It certainly seems excessive, and this is demonstrated by a photo that was quickly posted to the Twitter feed of the activist Jim Chambers. It is below:
A published article about Mr. Moran is right here:
Protests were taking place all over the country at the same time, and while Kevin Moran was expressing his advocacy for justice in Atlanta, Iesha Evans was doing the same thing in Baton Rouge. Ieshia Evans was among 102 protesters who were arrested that day. She was peacefully demonstrating, and she stood her ground before the police arrested her. Her strength in facing these men will likely cause this image to become instantly ingrained into American history.
The two photos below were taken in Baton Rouge by the photographer Jonathan Bachman, and the unwavering poise and dignity of Ieshia Evans simply astounds me:
Protesters often wear bandannas around their mouths when police in full riot gear are deployed…the bandannas are soaked in a special solution to resist tear gas:
In contrast to to the protest in Baton Rouge, the police officers that were deployed to the Atlanta protests did not have on riot gear or body armor (for the most part). There were times that police carrying assault rifles and wearing armor underneath their uniforms appeared, but the mayor, Kasim Reid, made it clear that full riot gear would not be used unless absolutely necessary.
This gesture by the mayor, who was under advisement by Andrew Young, was well-received by those who understand that the tone of a protest changes dramatically when riot police are deployed.
Atlanta has a strong history of protest movements, and after all, Atlanta was the home of the Reverend Dr. Martian Luther King Jr. Luckily, Atlanta is also a city that is accustomed to large crowds and major events, and to their credit the police were very limited in their aggression (though dozens of arrests were made during the 5 day protest). Kevin Moran experienced more pain than most, but let us remember that many innocent people of color are treated with similar indignities as those experienced by Mr. Moran on the streets of Metro Atlanta every day
You can see a lot in the body language and in the eyes of the people that you encounter during a demonstration. Some police officers made subtle nods to us, agreeing with the message, while the expressions of others demonstrated dissatisfaction with the movement. In addition, some officers looked genuinely scared, apparently afraid of finding themselves in some controversial confrontation with protesters.
Many protesters expressed their anguish to the police that were present, making remarks that amount to the realization that skin color, ethnicity, nationality, and other factors should not be a determining factor to the level of justice that is received by citizens of this country. Many police were moved, and they responded favorably. It seemed to bring about a certain amount of healing when events like this occurred. At times people shook hands with the cops, and at other times people yelled at them.
Some protesters were angry with the police, and they verbally insulted them with foul language and pain born out of years of racist police abusing them. To their credit, I saw many of these officers simply take the verbal abuse, and some were even ashamed. I was astonished that this movement has seen protesters screaming at cops, and with the cops making no reaction, in contrast to protests in the 1960s in which it was the police screaming at protesters and receiving no reaction (of course, this does not include the beatings and atrocities committed by the police in that day and age).
Sometimes the police do get angry with you during a demonstration. If you become too exuberant, if too many people are paying attention to a particular message, if you touch the wrong nerve, then the police will start to use very minor laws against you; laws that they do not enforce in other circumstances. For example, if you step a foot on private property, then you are subject to arrest. In an intersection when the light is the wrong color…subject to arrest.
It was hard enough knowing that protesters were at risk for arrest in the Atlanta protests, but the courage by Iesha Evans in the face of armored police officers is impressive and inspiring. Kevin Moran’s passionate plea for social justice resounds heavily for all those who have witnessed his story. The full article in Rolling Stone that documents Iesha’s heroism is below.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/protestor-in-iconic-black-lives-matter-photo-identified-20160711