When more than 100 African American pastors assembled outside the Glynn County Courthouse in November 2021 during the murder trial of the men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, Savannah State University journalism professor Jason Miccolo Johnson and his students were there – not just to bear witness for themselves, but to document the demonstration for all to see.
Now their work is on display in a photography exhibition, unveiled Saturday at Savannah State’s Whiting Hall. The 32 photographs were taken by Johnson and four students in his “African Americans in the Media” course: Kalel Akins, Damien Bryant, Beyoncé Gordon and Alonzo McKinney.
“I want the public to see the quality of work that can be achieved with a cellphone,” said Johnson, whose students at Georgia’s oldest public historically Black college/university used 35mm cameras as well as their own cellphones. “I want to connect the dots between the power of cellphones and capturing and documenting real life – and that that has impacted the justice system.”
(READ MORE: In his final days, Ahmaud Arbery’s life was at a crossroads)
The pastors’ rally was a response to defense attorney Kevin Gough’s comment that he didn’t want “any more Black pastors” in the courtroom, after he objected to the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s presence in the public gallery.