Title
In the Wakes of Rodney King: Militant Evidence and Media Activism in the Age of Viral Black Death
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
Fall 2019
Abstract
This essay explores the historical and critical legacy of the Rodney King tape, namely, its transformation of the concerns of the field of documentary studies in the turn toward “visible evidence” in the 1990s. This turn privileged the power of visibility, particularly in radical and activist practices, but visibility is a fraught concept for minority subjects. I argue for an approach called “militant evidence” as an expanded and updated framework for media activism and the use of visible evidence. In this formulation, accumulated visible evidence is deployed within larger media and activist ecologies toward an abolition of police violence.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7560/VLT8404
Recommended Citation
Watson, Ryan. "In the Wakes of Rodney King: Militant Evidence and Media Activism in the Age of Viral Black Death." The Velvet Light Trap 84 (Fall 2019): 34-49. doi: 10.7560/VLT8404 Please note that the Recommended Citation may not be appropriate for your discipline. For help with other citation styles, please visit http://libguides.misericordia.edu/citationguide.