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A photo I took during a Black Lives Matter protest in Brooklyn is published in the L'Officiel USA Summer 2020 issue.
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Some of my protest photos are featured in the Culture 2020 edition of the The Quintessential Gentleman. You can view the digital copy here.  Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NYC  “I am here tonight to say to you, ‘do not be discouraged, do not feel hopeless’ because you cannot build a house in a day. And you certainly cannot rebuild a country in a month or two. But we will rebuild this country, block by block. And right now, what we’re doing is digging the foundation. We are digging the foundation of this new America that we will construct. A lot of people get really scared when they hear us say things like ‘defund and abolish the police.’ But what they don’t understand is that perhaps for them, police in America gives a sense of safety. What they see, if you are a part of the privilege, that when you see the presence of police officers it makes you feel safe and secure, but when black men, when black women, when black children, when black queers, when black trans folk see police, what we see, what we feel, is we feel as though death is on the horizon.” - @jamaicanwriterchick  “This country runs on the backs of minorities and it most certainly works because black women show up, brown women show up for all of you. When do you show up for us?” - @mhsexpert  “This is Our country. These are Our streets.” Proclaimed @theluxof. “It is up to Us to change the country. It is up to Us to change the norm.”  Justice Ride X. This marks the tenth consecutive week of Justice Rides by @streetridersnyc
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*** If you have seen a photo on my Instagram or website that is not listed OR want a size that isn't shown, please let me know and I can do a custom order. “As Muslims we pray five times a day. One early in the morning, one in the afternoon, one in the middle of the afternoon, and the fourth one is at sunset which is around this time, and the last one is towards the ending of the night. So we just prayed the fourth prayer, it’s called Maghrib, it’s three prayers where we recite Qur'an out loud.” Said Alhassan, “Honestly, it felt good and it felt peaceful. It’s very reassuring for us as Muslims to know that our allies also stand with us and hopefully it will also represent the message that Muslims also stand with Black Lives Matter. We also are in this fight together as well.”
 “And they want to make me public enemy number one, for what? For saying tear down white supremacy? For saying free our people? For saying that black lives matter? There is no fear here. There is no fear here. Because we are on the side of righteousness, we are on the right side of oppression, and we will have freedom.” - Hawk Newsome, ChairPerson, BLM Greater NY  “What is the source of this issue? What is the polices’ job?” Dannelly Rodriguez asked the crowd, “To protect and serve,” expressed a woman near the front. Rodriguez continued, “The queen says, “to protect and serve.” She’s damn right. But the question is what the hell are they protecting and what are they serving? I’ll tell you right now who they’re protecting and who they’re serving. Policing in America was founded on slavery. Our society is a capitalistic society where black labor has been exploited since its inception to build this country. So when a black person got out of line or fought for their freedom, guess what the police where doing. Preserving the status quo and keeping them locked up in their chains. Because what they serve is the capitalist white supremacist class in this country. What they protect is property. So let’s be clear, I don’t want to hear none of my black brothers and sisters talk about “they ain’t doing their jobs” because they’re doing their jobs. They’re capturing black bodies for free labor in the prison industrial complex. So when we talk about defund the police, we’re talking about abolition, we’re not talking about reform. You cannot expect a system that was inherently racist to be reformed. How are you going to have bad apples when the whole damn tree is rotten! We have to take it from its roots, take it out, burn it, be done with it, and build something new. And what does that look like? It looks like defunding the NYPD $3 billion on July 1st.”
 “This is real. Me being an ex-felon, being part of mass incarceration, being attacked and beat by the police. This is very much real for me. I’ve been homeless, I’m a father, a student and a vet. My people are the blood, sweat and tears, and the backbone of this country. Where nothing exists here today if it were not for black people. People of color have always been ostracized and abused in this place that they call the great United States. Fuck the United States. The United States is full of shit. They got their priorities fucked up. We got a clown for a president. And police are killing our people at random, not just our youth but our elderly too. Enough is enough. How do you kill a man when he’s telling you he can’t breathe? You keep your foot on his neck even after he done stopped breathing, you still got your foot on his neck. Something has to end. So until they give us what we ask for, we’re here, we’re not going nowhere.” - Kannon
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