Our project strives to show the different forms of political and social protests in various countries. Through photojournalism, we hope to gain a better understanding of the political dynamics in different nations.
Yoav Loeff – Tel Aviv January 2025
In March, 1965, peaceful Civil Rights protestors marching through Selma, Alabama reached the Edmund Pettus Bridge; there they faced a blockade of police and state troopers, who ordered them to disperse. When they did not, the troopers attacked the crowd with clubs and tear gas. Mounted police chased retreating marchers and violently beat them. Television coverage of “Bloody Sunday,” as the event became known, triggered national outrage.
These shocking events were major catalysts for the landmark Voting Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson later that year.
Here in 2025, New Yorkers commemorated the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” with a peaceful march over the Brooklyn Bridge, which I attended. To my surprise, the participants -a New York mix of young and old, black and white- included some veterans of the historic 1965 marches in Alabama. They proudly carried placards featuring photos of their younger activist selves; and I found their strength of spirit and continued commitment to social progress positively inspirational.
In recent years, however, Republicans have systematically rolled back voting rights. Under Donald Trump’s watch, his extreme Supreme Court led the charge to gut the Voting Rights Act, empowering Republican elected officials to purge voter rolls and pass laws that make voting far more difficult -particularly for Black voters. We witnessed Republican attacks on election officials and infrastructure, the spread of disinformation, and endless lawsuits attempting to overturn secure elections. And so, unfortunately, the struggle for equal rights continues…