Descendants turn contested ownership of images into public advocacy tools

Evidence

Ever since the Peabody informed me that I couldn’t use the image for my book project, I decided to use it however and whenever I wanted. Shonrael, an excellent graphic designer, made the shirts as well as business cards with my contact information, as people often asked for it at events—especially if I was wearing my tee. I found that it had a profound impact on people: they wanted to know who Renty was, and I was happy to tell them. — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 570

Categorization

• SHARE: The ‘Free Renty’ shirt as a way to reclaim and proliferate an image an institution forbade — the wearing of the contested image itself as protest matches how activists repurpose owned symbols.
• XREF: connects to: Attention activists can weaponize inherited everyday tools nonviolently