Emmett Till’s Open Casket (1955)

Photo by David Jackson, published by Jet Magazine

Disrupted narrative: “Racial violence in the South is exaggerated.”

Why It Matters: Mamie Till demanded the world see what they did to her son. The raw brutality of this image shattered northern denial and catalyzed the modern civil rights movement.

Tommie Smith & John Carlos, Black Power Salute (1968)

Photographed at the Mexico City Olympics

Disrupted narrative: “Sports are separate from politics.”

Why It Matters: This silent gesture on a global stage exposed America’s racial inequality to the world, challenging the idea that athletic success equaled full citizenship.

Huey Newton in the Wicker Chair (1967)

Photo by Blair Stapp

Disrupted narrative: “Black men are dangerous criminals.”

Why It Matters: Newton posed defiantly but intentionally styled—armed, regal, and composed. The image reframed him as a symbol of self-defense, intellect, and community protection.

Medgar Evers Broadcasting at WLBT, Jackson, MS (1963)

Photo from his televised address in Jackson, MS

Disrupted narrative: “The media speaks for all Americans.”

Why It Matters: Evers used federal law to force a segregated TV station to air his words. Speaking calmly to white viewers, he exposed Jackson’s racist systems on their own platform, just weeks before his assassination.

Michael Brown’s Body on the Street (2014)

Cellphone image from Ferguson

Disrupted narrative: “Police violence is rare and justified.”

Why It Matters: This image of his body left in the street for hours sparked mass protests and launched Black Lives Matter into global consciousness

George Floyd Mural, Minneapolis (2020)

Community-created mural

Disrupted narrative: “These deaths are isolated incidents.”

Why It Matters: The mural turned Floyd’s face into a visual shorthand for a movement, linking him to systemic injustice and inspiring global solidarity.