I encountered this young brother who is the subject of this photograph in Harlem last June. The occasion was one of the earliest protest demonstrations in New York City and across the nation against the racist killer cop murder of George Floyd.

The protesters were marching the streets towards the rally site when an elderly brother joined with the boombox and began blasting James Brown's, "Say it loud! I'm black and I'm proud!" At that point, some of the [...] Harlem crowd, who had been quietly observing the marches from the sidelines, now quickly joined in the protest, adding in some happy shouts and spontaneous dance moves. They were mixing their righteous anger with some prideful joy in being Black. And this young brother marching directly in front of me responded by raising his well-muscled and glistening arm to the sky, topping it off with an iconic clenched fist.

Of course, I took the photo.

Never a complicated or unusual sight at a social justice street protest, I was personally affirmed by its capture nonetheless.  I now share this simple imagery in the spirit of it being a fundamental visual building block for any Black Lives Matter protest story.