18. Amy Cooper vs. Christian Cooper

On May 25, 2020, the same day George Floyd was killed, Amy Cooper, left, called the police on Christian Cooper, right (no relation), when he asked her to leash her dog so he could birdwatch in Central Park in New York City. She called the police and claimed she was being threatened by a black man. In this visual juxtaposition, Amy Cooper appears to be calling for help for Christian Cooper, who appears to be birdwatching while burning in the fire started at the Atlanta Wendy’s, where police would later that summer kill Rayshard Brooks for falling asleep in the drive-through.

19. Daniel Cameron

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a black man, presided over the grand jury trial charged with deciding whether the officers who shot and killed Breonna Taylor should be charged. The grand jury did not return any charges against the three police officers who shot into Breonna Taylor’s apartment, killing her (see below). Later, jurors were surprised to find out now charges were filed, according to this report on CNN.

20. Breonna Taylor

Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old EMT, was shot and killed by police while asleep in her bed in Louisville, Kentucy on March 13, 2020. Plainclothes officers forced entry into her apartment while she was asleep with boyfriend Kenneth Taylor, as part of an investigation into drug dealing operations. Breonna Taylor’s story is the subject of a New York Times podcast, documentary, and in-depth article. (Read the article wihich links to the first two episodes of the podcast here.)

21. Karen

This is a picture of Kelly Ripa, who appeared in People magazine in 2020, gleefully falling backward into a body of water in a photo shoot that also included her husband and their three children. The pink circle blots out her facial features because she is representing a Karen, one of many slim, attractive, able-bodied white women whose privileges allow them to detach from the events of the summer of 2020 and carry on with life, unaffected.

22. Protest at the Rotunda

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump’s face, in this re-imagining, has been superimposed over the face of a white man, one of many who showed up at the Capitol Rotunda without wearing face masks, freely yelling at police. A police officer can be seen standing motionless in the background, as white protestors yell in his face.

23. Pouring Milk Into an Eye That’s Been Pepper-Sprayed

In this manipulated image, peaceful protestors are pouring milk into the eye of a baton-wielding police officer to ease the burning sensation of pepper spray, which police were in fact spraying into crowds of peaceful protestors around the country.

24. Handcuffed To One’s Hospital Bed

After Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times, he was paralyzed from the waist down. Nonetheless, he was handcuffed to his hospital bed. This reimagined image shows the officer who shot Jacob Blake handcuffed to a hospital bed.

25. Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died of metastatic pancreatic caner at the age of 87 on September 18, 2020. Click here to listen to NPR’s memorial of her life and career. The subject of a documentary called “The Notorious RBG” she is seen wearing the crown of the late rapper Biggie Smalls, AKA The Notorius BIG. A fitness advocate, she is depiced pumping iron, and looking disdainful as she is surrounded by the police officer who shot Jacob Blake on one side and the accomplices of the officer who killed George Floyd on another.

26. George Floyd’s Foot on the Neck of Derek Chauvin

In this aspirational juxtaposition of images, roles are reversed: George Floyd has his foot on the neck of Derek Chauvin. This section of the collage, perhaps the most provocative, allows the viewer to imagine a different set of facts. What would have happened if a black police officer kept his knee on the neck of a white citizen for more than nine minutes?

27. Funeral of George Floyd

This is an image of one of the funerals of George Floyd. He was honored with three funerals, murals around the country, and much more acclaim in his death than he received during his life.

28. George Floyd’s Brother Testifies Before Congress

George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd was the most visible face of his family. He testified before Congress in favor of legislation that would prevent police from being able to assault citizens with impunity.

29. Breonna Taylor’s killer plays the violin with his neck in a noose

In this aspirational juxtaposition of images, Myles Cosgrove, one of the police officers whose bullet is believed to have struck Breonna Taylor, is seen with a noose around his neck while playing the violin, the instrument that Elijah McClain, at right, would play for kittens in shelters.

30. Elijah McClain

Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old massage therapist, was walking home on August, 24, 2019, in Aurora, Colorado. McClain, who was unarmed, refused to stop when police first approached him. The 140-pound man was tackled and pinned to the ground with a carotid control hold. McClain asked police to stop, saying he couldn’t breathe. Medical responders injected McClain with the sedative ketamine, and he suffered cardiac arrest in the ambulance en route to a local hospital. McClain was declared brain dead a few days later and died. Follow this link to get details from CNN. None of the officers were criminally charged. Follow this link to a Denver Post article in which a prosecutor tries to explain why not.

31. Joy Reid gets a primetime show

Joy Reid, who had been hosting the weekend morning political news show “AM Joy” on MSNBC, launched “The ReidOut” on July 20, 2020. She is the first black woman to host her own hourlong cable TV news program in prime time.

32. Jacob Blake

This is an image of Jacob Blake, who was 29 when he was shot in the back seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 23, 2020, by Officer Rusten Sheskey. He survived the shooting, and will be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life.

33. San Fransico Woman

Lisa Alexander, founder and CEO of LA Face, a California-based beauty company, admonished and called the police on a man who was writing “Black Lives Matter” in chalk on a retaining wall on his own property in San Francisco. She accused him of being on someone else’s property, but when police arrived, they recognized him as the homeowner. She is seen in this re-imagining wearing a t-shirt that says “I am Breonna Taylor” in place of the T-shirt she actually had on. Follow this link to read more and watch a short video about what happened that day.

34. Mitch McConnell, Bill Barr and Donald Trump

When we see Mitch McConnell, Bill Barr and Donald Trump wearing T-shirts that say “Black Lives Matter,” we get a chance to imagine what a different country this would be if they truly felt that way. Next to Donald Trump is a container of Lysol, which he said would help contain the Corona virus if ingested internally. Surrounding Trump are flames of fire, to depict how his legacy crashed and burned, along with his reputation, during the insurrection he called on January 6, 2021, which led to the death of five Americans and unprecedented damage to the Capitol.

35. Media — Summer 2020

The cartoon Image with a red slash symbolizes the halt to going to the movies (except drive-ins) and other social gatherings, for more than a year because of the novel coronavirus, which killed more than 550,000 Americans.