By Published: April 20, 2021 Last May, when Mary Ann Vecchio watched the video of George Floyd s dying moments, she felt herself plummet through time and space to a day almost exactly 50 years earlier. On that afternoon in 1970, the world was just as riveted by an image that showed the life draining out of a young man on the ground, this one a black-and-white still photo. Mary Ann was at the center of that photo, her arms raised in anguish, begging for help.
That photo, of her kneeling over the body of Kent State University student Jeffrey Miller, is one of the most important images of the 20th century. Taken by student photographer John Filo, it captures Mary Ann s raw grief and disbelief at the realization that the nation s soldiers had just fired at its own children. The Kent State Pietà, as it s sometimes called, is one of those rare photos that fundamentally changed the way we see ourselves and the world around us. Like the image of the solitary protester standing in fron
The girl in the Kent State photo and the lifelong burden of being a national symbol washingtonpost.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from washingtonpost.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Originally published on March 8, 2021 1:09 pm
Kyal Sin was clear-eyed as she prepared to take part in protests this week against the military regime in Myanmar. The teenage girl wrote down her blood type in a Facebook post, should she be injured; and asked that her organs be donated should she die.
Her nickname was Angel.
The photo of Kyal Sin at that demonstration has been seen around the world by now. A young girl on the ground, reaching out, crouching behind protest banners, and wearing a T-shirt that says, Everything will be OK.
But police fired tear gas. Shooting started from security forces. Kyal Sin shouted, Are we united? and the protesters around her shouted back, in a chant, United! United!
STR/AP
toggle caption STR/AP
Bystanders flash a three-fingered sign of resistance as the body of Kyal Sin leaves the Yunnan Chinese temple in Mandalay, Myanmar earlier this week. STR/AP
Kyal Sin was clear-eyed as she prepared to take part in protests this week against the military regime in Myanmar. The teenage girl wrote down her blood type in a Facebook post, should she be injured; and asked that her organs be donated should she die.
Her nickname was Angel.
The photo of Kyal Sin at that demonstration has been seen around the world by now. A young girl on the ground, reaching out, crouching behind protest banners, and wearing a T-shirt that says, Everything will be OK.