Lately in the United States, there has been an increase in the shootings of unarmed African-American males by police officers. Whether or not it is happening more now than in the past, these incidents are getting massive amounts of media coverage. The mass reporting of these shootings inevitably leads to public outrage, and this anger is typically released through large protests and rallies. The people who attend these rallies and protests call for change and reform in our country. One such incident that happened very recently was the shooting of an unarmed black man by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina. This led to a huge protest, and rightfully so. The protest brought on significant violence, with protesters being shot, businesses being looted, and other destruction of property. This protest was covered by the media the same as all other protests, with the exception of one man who sought to find the bright spots in a dark time. Matthew Teague, a reporter, found the man in the picture above, and tweeted it out as an example of an effective method of protest while remaining very peaceful, leading to the picture garnering thousands of “retweets” and “favorites”. This simple picture speaks volumes about the man it’s focused on, the protests as a whole, and even the shaky state of this country and its citizens. 

The man pictured at the protest is named Henry Lee. Lee made perhaps the biggest statement of the night by courageously staying in his chair despite chaos ensuing around him. The picture shows that he is calm and not hostile towards anyone, while the same cannot be said of the other protesters that aren’t pictured. The man has headphones in to drown out all of the noises around him, such as yelling, helicopters buzzing by, and even gunshots. Lee is not fazed by any of this because he does not feel threatened by the militarized police, though he assuredly believes change needs to occur. If he didn’t believe in that cause, why else would he be there? That was the main goal of the protest: bringing about reform in the law enforcement of the United States. Lee calmly refused to get up from his chair on a street corner because he wanted to make a statement without causing violence and a scene. It is widely agreed upon that violence cannot be stopped with more violence, but rather with peaceful actions. Lee was one of very few people to implement this belief in Charlotte, and it confirmed the idea that peace is more impactful than violence. The way that this man is pictured, in front of the police, makes one think he is in an unsafe and vulnerable position, although he appears at ease. 

The prominent aspect of the background of this picture focuses on the police. They are lined up in riot gear, obviously prepared for violent clashes with protestors. Henry Lee has other plans though, as he obviously does not want to engage in an altercation with the law. The police are dressed in riot gear and preparing for a confrontation for a reason. The other protestors present were violent so the law enforcement had reason to dress this way. They also appear to be militarized, some holding guns, batons, and riot shields. This reflects two aspects of American culture today: first that the police are often unnecessarily violent and militarized, and also that there is a lot of violence and dissatisfaction towards police today. 

This image causes the viewer to sort of empathize with the man in the chair because he is doing nothing wrong and taking a defiant stand in the face of danger. His commendable action leads the viewer to have immense respect for him. It is assumed that he is harmless and has good intentions, though the same cannot be said about the other protestors. This can be assumed because he is sitting down with his hands in his lap, has headphones in drowning out other noise, and he is not yelling, or even talking, for that matter. The photographer agrees that this is an optimal way to speak out against other social issues, rather than the widespread violent protesting that has been taking place over the past year. Teague (the photographer) knew that this was a gripping scene so he put himself in danger to get the shot. Many viewers online agreed that this was a very cool photo, as it went viral and was seen by hundreds of thousands of people. 

This viral image relays a profound message that needs to be heard by much of the American population. The picture speaks volumes about what is happening in our country as a regular occurrence now. Protests and the police are both becoming more and more violent. Protestors fight the police and each other, and the police are much more militarized and hostile now. Both trends need to stop and can be reversed, but the issue cannot be handled in the way it currently is. Peaceful protest is a much more effective route than the current method of clashing with the police and destroying everything in the path of the protest. The photographer certainly believes this since the scene in the photograph made enough of an impact on him that he thought to tweet it out and share it with the world via Twitter. The image proves that there are good people out there who take a bad situation and make the best out of it, as this man did by peacefully protesting the injustices that are happening in this country. 