Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
The Kent State shooting by members of the Ohio National Guard occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio on May 4, 1970, and resulted in the deaths of four students. At the time John Filo was in the University student photography lab when the shots rang out.
This image won him the Pulitzer Prize the following year, 1971:
In being awarded the Pulitzer for Photography, he was given credit where credit was due.
His photo did much to change the attitudes of Americans regarding the use of American military force against American civilians.
It’s the national posture that many find Trump and Barr all too willing to violate today.
Darnella Frazier is the 17 year old girl who stood her ground and stared into the face of pure hatred for nearly 9 minutes.
Because of her, we now have a full and complete recording of the inhumane barbarism of the police brutality that has been the subject and focal point of the seemingly endless complaints and grievances of black people….
She stood her ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and videographed the murder of George Floyd by a cop.
She has given the world the ‘proof’ that has been demanded by the purveyors of racism and the apologists for injustice.
Her video recording is the full length feature version of the real 400 hundred year history of the relationship between white people and black people in America.
Her video is different from others of its kind because the deniers must remain silent and the doubters have had all reasons, excuses, justifications, and rationalizations unceremoniously ripped away…
Her’s is different because
she stood her ground for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and videographed the murder of George Floyd by a cop, and the world of law enforcement and criminal justice must be forever changed because of it.
Here’s a list of awards and criteria:
The Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography is one of the American Pulitzer Prizes annually awarded for journalism. It recognizes a distinguished example of feature photography in black and white or color, which may consist of a photograph or photographs, a sequence or an album.
The Feature Photography prize was inaugurated in 1968 when the single Pulitzer Prize for Photography was replaced by the Feature prize and “Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography”, renamed for “Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography” in 2000.
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and online media
Awarded for: Distinguished achievement and meritorious public service by television and radio stations, networks, producing organizations, individuals, and the World Wide Web
The congressional gold medal seeks to honor those, individually or as a group, “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.”[
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors”.
Here’s my question:
Which, if any, of these awards should be given to Darnella Frazier for her cell phone video of the murder of George Floyd?
06/08/2020 @ 9:19 am
The congressional gold medal as described here by you seems entirely appropriate. Her bravery, holding her camera still in the face of horror, exceeds that of all the secret police combined as they wield their new found powers shielded by anonymity.
06/08/2020 @ 10:52 am
Frankly, her bravery was such that I think she qualifies for all of them….
06/08/2020 @ 9:50 am
The Pulitzer if it’s given for videos. The Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contribution to how the country reacts to racism and police brutality. I guess the Peabody if it’s given to individuals rather than if it’s really geared to journalists.
I appreciate your writing about Darnella Frazier. Her name doesn’t get as much publicity as it should.
06/08/2020 @ 10:49 am
I believe that a Pulitzer, among others, would be in order since the now iconic still photo is a frame taken from the video.
06/08/2020 @ 1:04 pm
Your question is one of the best I have seen. I say that because she could win them all, and as far as I know it is not being discussed. It is probably the most important photo of my adult lifetime, and top 5 in my life. George Floyd could be a Crispus Attucks of our century, and Darnella Frazier is the photo journalist who was not there to capture his sacrifice. I have only seen you make reference to her in the past couple of weeks. I vow to start using her name as well. You have made such an important point.
06/08/2020 @ 2:19 pm
“…she could win them all, and as far as I know it is not being discussed…”
That’s the irony, her photo/video meets the criteria, and her extreme bravery qualifies her to win them all…
…And, nobody has brought it up for discussion, not even a passing remark as far as I can tell….
This is an aspect of white America and white privilege the media is loath to discuss….
And the black commentators, contributors, analysts, politicos, celebrities, and luminaries who have failed to make mention are another story altogether…
White people tend to feel that they should be able to pick and choose the stars of the civil rights show
If she had already been anointed by white folks with Ivy League credentials or previously gained celebrity status, there would have been a scramble to “scoop” the news of a pending award and ceremony with all the trimmings.
But alas, she’s a 17 year old black nobody so they assign George Floyd to the pantheon of civil rights martyrs, with nationally televised services and eulogies, and leave the young woman, who should be declared a national hero, in relative obscurity….
By way of comparison, look at how the media dealt with the white kids after the Parkland School mass shooting:
When the smoke and dust of the protests, riots, and wall to wall coverage clears and settles, there won’t be much national energy or appetite for recognition of the young lady whose extraordinary courage in the face of consummate evil made it all happen…
06/08/2020 @ 3:12 pm
Sincerely, Ron, that is among the most profound observation I have read in the past 10 years of blogging. I have to consider myself among the guilty when, at first, I never considered who took the video. Like I said before, you were the first I have seen make mention of it. I have not seen anyone in any of the coverage do so.
Now, in their defense, it is a huge story, and it has a certain ordinary aspect to it. And yet, that is what makes it extraordinary. Words fail me here, but I think maybe you should write or call someone. Make some sort of nomination. Darnella Frazier is a huge story in her own right. I could not agree more. And the manner in which she is overlooked is so worth learning about. Honestly, I am having a hard time finding its like in history or in literature. I think there is a photo from the Spanish Civil War that has a special aura, which is now questioned as to its authenticity. Some say it may have been staged. Darnella Frazier’s video, we know wasn’t staged. https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/arts/design/18capa.html
06/08/2020 @ 5:14 pm
I sent this email to Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and MSNBC
I wrote and posted a piece about the young woman whose video is at the heart of the change that will take place as a result of the murder of George Floyd:
Please to a look and let me know if you agree that someone, somewhere should mention her extraordinary act of courage on air and nominate her for a Peabody or Pulitzer….
Thanks for your attention and consideration of this matter.
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE device
I invite all here to do the same or something similar:
eugenerobinson@washpost.com
06/08/2020 @ 5:25 pm
I sent the following email to Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and MSNBC:
I wrote and posted a piece about the young woman whose video is at the heart of the change that will take place as a result of the murder of George Floyd:
Please take a look and let me know if you agree that someone, somewhere should mention her extraordinary act of courage on air and nominate her for a Peabody or Pulitzer….
Thanks for your attention and consideration of this matter.
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE device
It would be great if everyone here did the same or something similar.
eugenerobinson@washpost.com