ipl-logo

Visual Rhetoric In Social Media

647 Words3 Pages

Visual rhetoric is defined as a form of communication that uses images to create meaning or construct an argument (What is Visual Rhetoric). One of the major things that gives the #Blacklivesmatter movement it 's impact is because it 's a visual movement. While there are white and other non black allies, it 's the black people that are ahead of them all. With the use of shirts that have the names of those that were killed, carrying picket signs, and artists that show their work on social media, they command that their lives be taken seriously and not have to suffer from injustice demanding that their lives be held significance and should not have to suffer. Years ago you would see protesters images spread mostly through mainstream news on newspapers and television. That was the only way for them to get their cause out into a national spotlight. Unfortunately it wasn’t easy for the protesters because the relation with the mainstream media is hard because they had their own biases so they had the risk of images being manipulated. Compared to now however, many groups within the black lives matter movement are …show more content…

Social media sites such as Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube provided the tools for activists to express their messages and show their images so that issues of racial discrimination, police brutality, and the abuse of power in the police forces could be stationed in a time and place. Essentially, protestors can utilize the images of artwork that can be used to memorialize those that were killed. Antwan Sargent’s article The Art Of The Black Lives Matter Movement mentions this by saying “Take the artist Titus Kaphar, who used chalk to sketch the faces of Trayvon Martin, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, and Michael Brown on asphalt. In the drawing titled For Trayvon, Amadou, Sean, and Mike, Kaphar overlays these unarmed black boys and men’s faces, one on top of the other, to visually represent the present day and historical nature of police brutality.” (Sargent,

Open Document