Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityKiray rides a mechanical horse outside of her Grandmothers trailer home in Itta Bena, Mississippi on August 9th, 2020. In rural Mississippi, house that have been demolished over the years remain in the same neighborhoods.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityLarry Coffey walks deep into his backyard to a lake to go fishing for dinner on July 28, 2020. The Coffey family has lived in Duncan, Mississippi for over 40 years.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityThe Not F’ing Around Coalition leader John Johnson who goes by Grandmaster Jay, left, embraces with a follower after speaking in a park in Louisville, Kentucky during Derby weekend on September 5th, 2020, to discuss justice for Breonna Taylor. “We come here not for violence, not to harm or burn any buildings, we are here for justice,” Johnson said.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityA child covers her ears from the loud noise of cheer during President Donald J. Trump’s campaign rally in Circleville, Ohio on October 24, 2020. A outside gathering of several thousand chanted “four more years” as President Trump walked out to Creedence Clearwater Revival song ‘Fortunate Son’ before giving an hour and a half speech.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDoug Wilson, 64, watches the fields grow as cotton season begins in Minter City, Mississippi on August 5, 2020. Wilson has worked at the Pillar Plantation since he was 17 years old. “Yessir, I’ve worked here for 47 years. I always like hands-on work,” Wilson said.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityHenry Pollard, 18, knows first hand racism in Mississippi. He recalls being called the “N” word during a football game against a predominantly white team. Pollard also says there are issues with gangs in each town. “Them niggas in Clarksdale, Cleveland, and Mound Bayou all have beef. Niggas in Cleveland know not to come to Mound Bayou. There be shootouts at night.” Pollard claims the towns have turf war with each other, with each town being no more than ten minutes apart from the other.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityWilliam Boyle Bowdre, 2, looks inside the camera as he walks around the outside of his families house in the Shawnee neighborhood in Louisville on September 2, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityStory Summary: A crowd of over 3,000 gather in downtown Louisville before slowly walking to Jefferson Square Park. Many remain peaceful while others gather around the Louisville courthouse. Some yell, others break windows, others tear down a Kentucky state flag from a pole, throw it on the ground and burn it. A few weeks later, a crowd gathers two miles away from the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, home of Governor Brian Kemp. Cars drive by slowly, people march, then walk closer to the mansion with a mission to wake up the affluent neighborhood. One person in the crowd yells over a microphone, “Wake up America, Black Lives Matter,” before they are met with sheriffs and police officers, many of whom are African-American. A few of the people in the rowdy crowd call a black police officer guarding the mansion a coon and some urge the younger black officers to join them. The police allow the crowd to protest, even with the crowd becoming intensely louder past midnight. One protestor yell’s at the officers, “Why do you think people are out here at 1 o’clock in the morning. We want to stop dying in the fucking streets. So y’all can go home if we just stop dying in the streets, damn.” Much of the anger in Louisville came from the police shooting death of Breonna Taylor in this Kentucky city, while the unrest in Atlanta was a result of the police shootings of Rayshard Brooks and neighborhood shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Though two of these shootings happened earlier in 2020, it was the video footage showing George Floyd dying under the knee of Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis police officer, that reopened these wounds in Kentucky and Georgia, as well as the rest of the country.First Caption: Dakota Walton, 7, along with her father, visited the Wendy’s location where the deadly shooting of Rayshard Brooks took place, shot by a police officer. The location would turn into a location of protest for several weeks. Atlanta rapper Lil Baby used it as a backdrop for the front cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityA protestor (center) paces with a uzi submachine gun as protestors use vehicles to block off a busy intersection in Atlanta, Ga on June 16, 2020. This followed within days of the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks outside of a Wendy’s by Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe. “I’m a clear the block. They not coming down here. I’m not going to kill my brother. I’m not going to hurt my sister. Cracker, I’m coming for your ass,” the gun-wielding protester said.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityTwo nights after the death of Rayshard Brooks, protestors stormed the intersection of Pryor Avenue on June 14, 2020. Without any Atlanta police in sight, a few in the crowd stormed the gas station next door to the Wendy’s with intentions to loot, but another group of people persuaded the crowd to not follow through with it. Instead, a few protesters decided to loot at the Lenox Square, while some went back home and others stayed through the night to protest.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityA protester throws firecrackers inside the old courthouse in downtown Louisville, Ky on May 29th, 2020. People surrounded the building and threw rocks and fireworks into the building before Louisville police threw tear gas to disperse the crowd. Hundreds surrounded the courthouse and the Louisville Police Department headquarters while throwing firecrackers, rocks and bottles through the windows. The community in Louisville followed up with protesting after the initial uprising in Minneapolis in response to George Floyd’s death. Louisville already had their own ongoing issue with the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, but the tension during the last week of May 2020 led to intense protest and rioting in the city.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityIn the middle of the night on June 18, 2020, protestors drove to the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, home of Governor Brian Kemp, to protest the shooting death of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta. Protestors yelled at local sheriffs and police before leaving an hour later.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio University“This ain’t Call of Duty anymore; every time you kill one of our own, we're going to make some noise,” yelled a protestor, who broke down in tears with a fist in the air in memory of Rayshard Brooks on June 18, 2020. The shooting death of Brooks at the hands of an Atlanta police officer at a Wendy’s led to a massive local protest. For a few weeks this location was turned into a peace center before it was eventually blocked off to prevent further protest activity.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityLouisville Police guard a street in downtown Louisville on May 29th, 2020. Police would soon throw tear gas into the crowds to disperse the protestors.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityProtestors do an interview with a French news station two nights after the death of Rayshard Brooks. “All of us out here. You want to throw us up under the jail. You want to shoot somebody ‘cause they went to sleep. What if we run up on your ass and shoot your ass? Y’all going to keep shooting us? Fuck looting, we going to just start straight shooting,” one of the protestors said.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityNechell Reynolds hugs a family member during the funeral of David McAtee in Louisville, Ky., on June 13, 2020. McAtee died when a stray bullet from a Kentucky National Guard officer hit David McAtee chest during curfew in Louisville’s West End. "This one hurts, he didn't even know what was going on," Reynolds said.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityProtesters duck for cover under a sign as Louisville police use tear gas to disperse protests in downtown Louisville on May 29th, 2020. The protest was sparked by the death of George Floyd and the officer-involved shooting death of Breonna Taylor.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityA protester lights his blunt as an American flag is burned on the ground in downtown Atlanta on June 2, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityEmployees work in the middle of the night to pick up and clean damage done to the Manhattan Grill in downtown Louisville on May 29th, 2020. One of the managers of the restaurant walked in to find two shattered windows. “What’s the reason for this?” the manager said. “Both windows and the door, look at this!”
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityRival gang members hold up opposing gang flags tied together in solidarity during massive protests in downtown Atlanta after the death of George Floyd on June 3, 2020. The protest of Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery would soon become a memory and life moved on. Black people wondered when the story would happen again, until it did in Kenosha a little over two months later.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, is a teen boxer who is planning on going pro next year. Duncan has been training with his coach for over four years, and plans to be a boxing champion in the middleweight boxing category. Growing up in a rough environment, he now plans to follow a career that takes him to a career he has desired since he was 13. First Caption: Demontaze Duncan, 18, takes a break before going into another practice boxing round with Joseph Hurt on October 17, 2020. Duncan is a top ranked boxer in Louisville and spend most of his days practicing with other Louisville boxers. He is coached by Nicholas Bareis, who is his father figure and coach.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, during boxing practice in Downtown Louisville on October 10, 2020. Duncan is a top prospect boxer in his age group of 18 to 20. He is currently training for a small boxing exposition in late October. He wants to turn “pro” as a boxer in the next few years.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, talks to his coach and mentor Nicholas Bareis in the Westend of Louisville while campaigning for Democratic senator nominee Amy McGrath on October 18, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, does boxing drills during practice on October 10, 2020. Duncan practices six days a week.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, does crunches during practice in Louisville, Kentucky on October 10, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, listens to Coach Nick during practice with Joseph Hurt in downtown Louisville on October 10, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, practices in Coach Nick’s basement in Louisville. Duncan lives with Coach Nick, who is both his trainer and guardian on October 13, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, does polling for Amy McGrath and talks to Rita in the Westend of Louisville on October 18, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, and Coach Nicholas Bareis relax after a long of practice at home on October 17, 2020.
Second Place, Chuck Scott Student Photographer of the Year - Michael Blackshire / Ohio UniversityDemontaze Duncan, 18, crosses the street during work in Louisville, Kentucky on October 18, 2020.
