visual culture and the struggle for civil rights Berger, Maurice 1956 creator International Center of Photography text bibliography ctu New Haven Yale University Press c2010 2010 monographic eng spa

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xv, 207 p. : ill. (some col.) ; 26 cm. In 1955, shortly after Emmett Till was murdered by white supremacists in Mississippi, his grieving mother distributed to the press a gruesome photograph of his mutilated corpse. Asked why she would do this, she explained that by witnessing with their own eyes the brutality of segregation and racism, Americans would be more likely to support the cause of racial justice. "Let the world see what I've seen," was her reply. The publication of the photograph inspired a generation of activists to join the civil rights movement. Despite this extraordinary episode, the story of visual culture's role in the modern civil rights movement is rarely included in its history. This is the first comprehensive examination of the ways images mattered in the struggle, and it investigates a broad range of media including photography, television, film, magazines, newspapers, and advertising. These images were ever present and diverse: the startling footage of southern white aggression and black suffering that appeared night after night on television news programs; the photographs of black achievers and martyrs in Negro periodicals; the humble snapshot, no less powerful in its ability to edify and motivate. In each case, the war against racism was waged through pictures, millions of points of light, millions of potent weapons that forever changed a nation. This book allows us to see and understand the crucial role that visual culture played in forever changing a nation. Foreword / by Thulani Davis -- Introduction : weapons of choice -- It keeps on rollin' along : the status quo -- The new "new Negro" : the culture of positive images -- Plates -- "Let the world see what I've seen" : evidence and persuasion -- Guess who's coming to dinner : broadcasting race -- Epilogue : in our lives we are whole : the pictures of everyday life. Maurice Berger ; foreword by Thulani Davis. "In collaboration with: Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland Baltimore County, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C." Related exhibition held at the International Center of Photography, New York, May 21-Sept. 12, 2010. Includes bibliographical references and index. n-us--- African Americans in mass media Civil rights movements United States History 20th century Visual communication Social aspects United States History 20th century Mass media Social aspects United States History 20th century Movimientos de derechos civiles Historia Estados Unidos Siglo XX Comunicación visual Aspectos sociales Medios de comunicación Aspectos sociales Estados Unidos Siglo XX P 94.5 B496f 2010 302.23089/96073 9780300121315 (hbk.) 0300121318 (hbk.) BTCTA 190527 20230411090117.0 spa