Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge

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Ieshia Evans in a flowing dress stands facing a line of police in riot gear, two of whom charge towards her
Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge by Jonathan Bachman

Taking a Stand in Baton Rouge[1] is a photograph of Ieshia Evans, a nurse from Pennsylvania, being arrested by police officers dressed in riot gear during a protest in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on 9 July 2016. The protest began in the aftermath of the shooting by police of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. The image, taken by Jonathan Bachman for Reuters, became a viral phenomenon on social media, described by several media organizations as "iconic", with some comparing the image (and Evans) to well-known images of other lone protesters, such as the photograph of "Tank Man" in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Background[edit]

At the protest on July 9, 2016, which followed the shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and of Philando Castile in Minnesota by police officers, Ieshia Evans was photographed by Jonathan Bachman for Reuters news agency confronting a line of police in riot gear.[2][3][4] The image shows a young woman in a flowing dress standing with her arms crossed facing down a line of heavily armed police while two armored officers rush forward to put her in handcuffs. The photograph became a viral phenomenon on social media[3][5][6] and a symbol of the Black Lives Matter movement.[7]

Evans was attending her first protest when she was arrested, having traveled to Baton Rouge after seeing news coverage of the shooting of Sterling.[8] She was detained, held overnight and released on the evening of the next day.[9]

It was the first protest of Bachman's career. Bachman said that he knew he had a picture that would speak volumes about what was going on, and that just moments before, he had been facing in the opposite direction and only turned around when he heard someone shout to Evans to warn her that she was going to get herself arrested.[10]

Cultural impact[edit]

Multiple media organizations have described the image of Evans as "iconic".[a] Teju Cole, writing in the New York Times Magazine, names Bachman's photograph among a group of images of "unacknowledged everyday black heroes" connected to the Black Lives Matter movement, such as those of a man throwing a tear gas canister during a protest in Ferguson, Missouri after the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown; Bree Newsome taking down a Confederate flag at the South Carolina State House; and activist DeRay Mckesson being arrested in Baton Rouge, also while protesting Sterling's death.[5]

The photograph has drawn comparisons to images of previous civil rights demonstrations, such as that of Turkish activist Ceyda Sungur being tear-gassed at a 2013 protest in Istanbul, and Flower Power, a photograph of a young man putting a flower into a National Guardsman's gun barrel during a 1967 anti-war demonstration,[7] as well as the image of "Tank Man" taken during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.[7][3][8] Yoni Appelbaum, politics editor at The Atlantic, writes:

There are images that are impossible to forget, searing themselves into our collective consciousness. One man staring down a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square. A high school student attacked by police dogs in Birmingham, Alabama. This is such a photo.[15]

Evans was interviewed by Gayle King for CBS This Morning,[16] and the public radio program Studio 360 later commissioned Tracy K. Smith to write a poem on the subject of the image.[4] The photograph was included in The New York Times' "The Year in Pictures 2016".[2]

Awards[edit]

Bachman's photograph of Evans standing as the two police officers charge towards her was awarded first prize for Contemporary Issues in the 2017 (60th) World Press Photo Contest.[17][18]

Ieshia Evans[edit]

Evans, the subject of the photograph, was 35 at the time.[6] She is originally from Brooklyn and is a licensed practical nurse in Pennsylvania.[4][6][9]

In December 2016, Evans met Bachman for the first time at a symposium on news photography organized by Reuters and the International Center of Photography.[11]

Evans was named AfroAmerica Network Black Woman of the Year for 2016[19] and was chosen to one of the BBC's 100 Women for that year.[12][20]

After the protest, Evans was critical of the 2016 election candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, as well as the former President Barack Obama. She was a vocal critic of the Trump Administration and has stated that she would like to see more whistleblowing due to skepticism surrounding the issues of social justice.[21]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ See e.g. The Washington Post,[3] Time,[9] Reuters,[11] BBC News,[12] and Le Figaro.[13] German television channel n-tv has described Evans as an "icon" of the protest.[14]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Taking a stand in Baton Rouge". The Wider Image. Reuters. August 11, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Chira, Susan (December 22, 2016). "The Year In Pictures 2016". Sunday Review. The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Miller, Michael E. (July 11, 2016). "'Graceful in the lion's den': Photo of young woman's arrest in Baton Rouge becomes powerful symbol". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Andersen, Kurt (November 10, 2016). "Unrest in Baton Rouge: Anatomy of a Photo". Studio 360 (audio with transcript). WNYC | New York Public Radio. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Cole, Teju (July 26, 2016). "The Superhero Photographs of the Black Lives Matter Movement". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Hensley, Nicole (July 11, 2016). "Woman in stunning, viral Baton Rouge protest photo is nurse and mom". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c Friedman, Vanessa (July 18, 2016). "A Sundress in an Age of Riot Gear". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "Woman in Baton Rouge protest photo: 'Silence speaks volumes'". CBS News. July 15, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c John, Tara (July 12, 2016). "Baton Rouge Protester From Iconic Photo Identified as Ieshia Evans". Time. Archived from the original on October 3, 2023.
  10. ^ "Taking a stand in Baton Rouge". Reuters. July 12, 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Highlights of the Reuters and ICP event, 'Iconic in an Instant? One Trillion Images'". Reuters. December 6, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "100 Women 2016: What to look forward to". BBC News. November 21, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  13. ^ Mazuet, Julie (July 18, 2016). "La femme de Baton Rouge : l'histoire derrière la photo iconique" [The Baton Rouge Woman: The Story Behind the Iconic Photo]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  14. ^ Lippold, Markus (July 12, 2016). "Iesha Evans wird zur Ikone des Protests" [Iesha Evans becomes an icon of protest] (in German). N-TV. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  15. ^ Appelbaum, Yoni (July 10, 2016). "Notes: A Single Photo From Baton Rouge That's Hard to Forget". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  16. ^ "Woman in iconic Baton Rouge photo: "We do matter"". CBS News. July 14, 2016. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Smyth, Diane (February 13, 2017). "The 2017 World Press Photo Contest winners are announced". British Journal of Photography. 1854 Media. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  18. ^ Taylor, Alan (February 13, 2017). "Winners of the 2017 World Press Photo Contest". The Atlantic. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  19. ^ O'Brian, David (December 3, 2016). "Ieshia Evans, AfroAmerica Network Black Woman of 2016". Afroamerica.net. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  20. ^ Bressanin, Anna (November 22, 2016). "100 Women 2016: It is bigger than me, it is beyond me…" (video). BBC News. Retrieved May 16, 2024.
  21. ^ Jones, Ja'han (July 5, 2018). "2 Years After Going Viral, Ieshia Evans Reflects On Her Iconic Protest Photo". HuffPost. Retrieved May 16, 2024.

Further reading[edit]

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