Local activist using photography to send messages, spark conversations during protests against racial injustice

ORLANDO, Fla. — Protests against racial injustice following George Floyd’s death have taken all sorts of forms, from marches in the street to social media campaigns.

A local activist is using photography to send a message and spark conversations.

Arlene Blake is the founder of Women on the Rise. She participated in a project called Portraits 4 Progress, an opportunity to share a message with the world at a time when so many people seem willing to listen.

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Tamara Knight is the photographer behind the project. She said a friend in Tampa came up with the idea as a peaceful way to support the growing Black Lives Matter movement.

“We basically wanted to show our support to the black community with whatever tools we have as a creative and of course peaceful tools,” Knight said.

Knight invited friends and clients to participate, asking them to take a photo and write a message that she could edit together.

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The result, messages of love and hope, but also messages demanding equality and calling on people to help write the next chapter in civil rights history.

“I want to inspire people to speak up in a peaceful way and share their message with the world that we’re all people and that we all have red blood under our skin,” Knight said.

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