albertocampiphoto

Photojournalist | Collective WeReport.fr

  • The story behind a powerful photograph. A Mighty Girl posts the background to this picture, in which an anti-racist protestor ended up protecting a man she’d come to demonstrate against:

    A Mighty Girl

    When Keshia Thomas was 18 years old in 1996, the KKK held a rally in her home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hundreds of protesters turned out to tell the white supremacist organization that they were not welcome in the progressive college town. At one point during the event, a man with a SS tattoo and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a Confederate flag ended up on the protesters’ side of the fence and a small group began to chase him. He was quickly knocked to the ground and kicked and hit with placard sticks.

    As people began to shout, “Kill the Nazi,” the high school student, fearing that mob mentality had taken over, decided to act. Thomas threw herself on top of one of the men she had come to protest, protecting him from the blows. In discussing her motivation for this courageous act after the event, she stated, “Someone had to step out of the pack and say, ’this isn’t right’... I knew what it was like to be hurt. The many times that that happened, I wish someone would have stood up for me... violence is violence - nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”

    Thomas never heard from the man after that day but months later, a young man came up to her to say thanks, telling her that the man she had protected was his father. For Thomas, learning that he had a son brought even greater significance to her heroic act. As she observed, “For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let’s say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?”

    Mark Brunner, the student photographer who took this now famous photograph, added that what was so remarkable was who Thomas saved: “She put herself at physical risk to protect someone who, in my opinion, would not have done the same for her. Who does that in this world?”

    In response to those who argued that the man deserved a beating or more, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Leonard Pitts Jr. offered this short reflection in The Miami Herald: “That some in Ann Arbor have been heard grumbling that she should have left the man to his fate, only speaks of how far they have drifted from their own humanity. And of the crying need to get it back.
    Keshia’s choice was to affirm what they have lost.
    Keshia’s choice was human.
    Keshia’s choice was hope.”

    To view more pictures of this Mighty Girl’s remarkable act of courage and read more about the event, visit the BBC at http://bbc.in/1djDOGY. You can also read a recent interview with Keshia on MLive at http://bit.ly/1u2zkOQ.

    For picture books about Mighty Girls taking a stand on behalf of another person — even in the face of opposition — we recommend “Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad” for ages 4 to 8 (http://www.amightygirl.com/unspoken), “Dare” for ages 4 to 8 (http://www.amightygirl.com/dare), and “Bully” for ages 7 to 11 (http://www.amightygirl.com/bully).

    For stories for older readers, we recommend “The Lions of Little Rock” for ages 10 to 13 (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-lions-of-little-rock), “Number the Stars” for ages 9 and up (http://www.amightygirl.com/number-the-stars), “Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind” for ages 9 to 13 (http://www.amightygirl.com/minnie-mcclary-speaks-her-mind), “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” for ages 9 to 13 (http://www.amightygirl.com/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond), and “To Kill A Mockingbird” for ages 10 and up (http://www.amightygirl.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird).

    For stories for children and teens about real-life girls and women who took a stand for what they believed in, visit A Mighty Girl’s “Role Model” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography

    For Mighty Girl stories about the importance of compassion, visit our “Kindness / Compassion” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/personal-development/values?cat=223

    And, for stories for young readers about overcoming racial prejudice, visit our “Racial / Ethnic Discrimination” section at http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination?cat=71

    • A Mighty Girl

      When Keshia Thomas was 18 years old in 1996, the KKK held a rally in her home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Hundreds of protesters turned out to tell the white supremacist organization that they were not welcome in the progressive college town. At one point during the event, a man with a SS tattoo and wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with a Confederate flag ended up on the protesters’ side of the fence and a small group began to chase him. He was quickly knocked to the ground and kicked and hit with placard sticks.

      As people began to shout, “Kill the Nazi,” the high school student, fearing that mob mentality had taken over, decided to act. Thomas threw herself on top of one of the men she had come to protest, protecting him from the blows. In discussing her motivation for this courageous act after the event, she stated, “Someone had to step out of the pack and say, ’this isn’t right’... I knew what it was like to be hurt. The many times that that happened, I wish someone would have stood up for me... violence is violence - nobody deserves to be hurt, especially not for an idea.”

      Thomas never heard from the man after that day but months later, a young man came up to her to say thanks, telling her that the man she had protected was his father. For Thomas, learning that he had a son brought even greater significance to her heroic act. As she observed, “For the most part, people who hurt... they come from hurt. It is a cycle. Let’s say they had killed him or hurt him really bad. How does the son feel? Does he carry on the violence?”

      Mark Brunner, the student photographer who took this now famous photograph, added that what was so remarkable was who Thomas saved: “She put herself at physical risk to protect someone who, in my opinion, would not have done the same for her. Who does that in this world?”

      In response to those who argued that the man deserved a beating or more, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator Leonard Pitts Jr. offered this short reflection in The Miami Herald: “That some in Ann Arbor have been heard grumbling that she should have left the man to his fate, only speaks of how far they have drifted from their own humanity. And of the crying need to get it back.
      Keshia’s choice was to affirm what they have lost.
      Keshia’s choice was human.
      Keshia’s choice was hope.”

      To view more pictures of this Mighty Girl’s remarkable act of courage and read more about the event, visit the BBC at ▻http://bbc.in/1djDOGY. You can also read a recent interview with Keshia on MLive at ▻http://bit.ly/1u2zkOQ.

      For picture books about Mighty Girls taking a stand on behalf of another person — even in the face of opposition — we recommend “Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad” for ages 4 to 8 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/unspoken), “Dare” for ages 4 to 8 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/dare), and “Bully” for ages 7 to 11 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/bully).

      For stories for older readers, we recommend “The Lions of Little Rock” for ages 10 to 13 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/the-lions-of-little-rock), “Number the Stars” for ages 9 and up (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/number-the-stars), “Minnie McClary Speaks Her Mind” for ages 9 to 13 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/minnie-mcclary-speaks-her-mind), “The Witch of Blackbird Pond” for ages 9 to 13 (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/the-witch-of-blackbird-pond), and “To Kill A Mockingbird” for ages 10 and up (▻http://www.amightygirl.com/to-kill-a-mockingbird).

      For stories for children and teens about real-life girls and women who took a stand for what they believed in, visit A Mighty Girl’s “Role Model” section at ▻http://www.amightygirl.com/books/history-biography/biography

      For Mighty Girl stories about the importance of compassion, visit our “Kindness / Compassion” section at ▻http://www.amightygirl.com/books/personal-development/values?cat=223

      And, for stories for young readers about overcoming racial prejudice, visit our “Racial / Ethnic Discrimination” section at ▻http://www.amightygirl.com/books/social-issues/prejudice-discrimination?c