ZACH BRIEN
PHOTOGRAPHY

Take it to the streets.

Take it to the streets is a photo essay in a multimedia story called Fists Up, Fight Back. The photo essay explores the emotional moments on the streets of D.C. during the movement for Black liberation that began in May of 2020 after the murder of George Floyd. The multimedia story includes a video and feature story which you can see here.

A protester raises his fist as he passes in front of a line of U.S. Secret Service officers clad in riot gear outside of the White House on Saturday, May 30, 2020.

A protester spray paints "George Floyd" on an interstate underpass on Saturday, May 30, 2020, the first full day of protests in Washington, D.C. after Floyd's death in Minneapolis, MN. Floyd was killed when Minneapolis police officer Derrick Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck for nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds while he was handcuffed on the ground.

Protesters try to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson in Lafayette Square Park on Monday, June 22, 2020 in Washington, D.C. That weekend, protesters in the District toppled and burned a statue of Confederate general Albert Pike.

D.C. Metro Police Department officers detain a man in Lafayette Square Park on Monday, June 22, 2020. That afternoon, protesters descended on the park to try and pull down the statue of Andrew Jackson.

A counter protester throws a punch at a member of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group known for politically-motivated violence, in downtown D.C. on Saturday, December 12, 2020

Protesters put up their hands, showing they pose no threat, as they surround a U.S. Capitol Police Officer vehicles outside of the Capitol building on Friday, May 29, 2020.

Leaders and clergy release doves at a jazz funeral for victims of police violence at Black Lives Matter Plaza on Sunday, July 5, 2020.

A small memorial to Breonna Taylor is taped on the fence outside of Lafayette Square Park on Saturday, June 6. The fence, which was placed around the park after the first few days of protesting, became home to posters memorializing those killed by police violence, including Breonna Taylor , 26, who was killed in her bed while she was sleeping in Louisville, Ky.

A protester hops on the hood of a D.C. Metro Police Department cruiser during a FTP march with the They/Them Collective along Constitution Avenue on Saturday, July 25, 2020

National Guard troops, clad in riot gear, protect Lafayette Square Park after pushing the barricades back to H street NW on Saturday, May 30, 2020.

Demonstrators set off fireworks as the "Justice for Black Lives Lost" march went through Thomas Circle on their way to Adams Morgan on Friday, April 16, 2021. It was the first of two consecutive nights of marching after the death of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old black man killed during a traffic stop in Brooklyn Center, MN, and the release of the body camera footage of Chicago police shooting and killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo.

Protesters scatter when D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers threw flash-bang grenades to break up a crowd on H Street NW on Sunday, May 31, 2020.

Protesters push back against U.S. Secret Service members clad in riot gear outside of the White House on Saturday, May 30, 2020. That day was the first full day of protesting after the murder of George Floyd.

U.S. Secret Service officers fire tear gas at protesters who tried to pull down the Andrew Jackson statue on Monday, June 22, 2020.

Justin Daniels, D.C. Protests co-founder, reacts to being pepper-sprayed by D.C. Metro Police Department officers on I St. NW near Black Lives Matter Plaza on Saturday, Dec. 12. That day, thousands of Trump supporters came to town for another large protest. Among that crowd were known white supremacists and neo-fascists like the Proud Boys, Three-Percenters and Oath Keepers.

U.S. Secret Service officers and protesters struggle as the officers try to detain the man in yellow in Lafayette Square Park on Friday, May 29 during a protest after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN.

D.C. Protests leads their second march from Malcolm X Park to D.C.'s City Hall on Saturday, June 13, 2020.

Supporters of the then-president carry "Black Families for Trump" outside of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday, November 14 during the "Million MAGA March," which brought roughly 10,000 Trump supporters to D.C.

Brittany Henderson-Fiestas, right, D.C. Protests former march leader, raises her fist as she plays a Malcolm X speech on 15th and R Street NW on Saturday, August 29. That day's march was especially large because of all the people in town for the March on Washington held the day before.

A D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer tries to keep members of the Proud Boys, dressed in their signature black and yellow, separated from counter-protesters on Saturday, December 12, 2020.

A protester raises an American flag in the rain and wind in Malcolm X Park on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

A group of protesters burn American flags at Black Lives Matter Plaza on July 4, 2020.

Brittney Henderson-Fiestas, bottom right, lays out candles for a memorial to Deon Kay on the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Saturday, September 5. Kay, 18, was shot in the back and killed by D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer Alexander Alvarez in Southeast D.C. that week.

Protesters cross over the tidal basin at dusk in Southwest D.C. during a protest on Saturday, June 6, 2020.

Justin Daniels' stops for a photo during D.C. Protests' march on August 29. The march was larger than normal with people from around the country in the District for the March on Washington held the day before.

Brittany laughs while going over chants in Malcolm X before their march on Saturday, October 3. The march was cut short by MPD two blocks up 18th street past U when they declared the event an unlawful assembly.

A man playing chess throws up the peace sign in solidarity as D.C. Protests passes DuPont Circle during a march on. Saturday, August 15.

Drew Boddie holds the megaphone for Cass as she calls for the crowd to get loud as D.C. Protests turns from 15th to U street NW. The march tried to get to Adams Morgan, but were stopped by MPD on 18th street.

D.C. Protests' first march on June 6, 2020 was quite large, drawing hundreds of participants to to Malcolm X Park.

Destiny reads facts about the death of Karon Hylton in the direction of two men who began laughing during D.C. Protests' march on 14th St. NW on Saturday, October 31. Hylton was killed after being chased by D.C. Metro Police Department officers while riding his moped on Kennedy St. in NW D.C.. Officers claim Hylton was riding a moped on a sidewalk without a helmet. It is against department policy to chase people for traffic violations.

Drew hypes up the crowd while the rain subsides during D.C. Protests' march on Saturday, June 19, 2020.

Kat takes a break on the Virginia Avenue NW bridge, behind the Lincoln Memorial, during a D.C. Protests march on Saturday, August 22.

Cass carries Bella to a makeshift dance floor during jail support outside the U.S. Courthouse on October 5. Jail support is always carried out the day after a comrade is arrested. People wait outside with food, coffee, shoelaces and more.

A young child squirts a water gun at D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officer Timothy E. Evans in Malcolm X. Park on Saturday, August 8, 2020.