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Black Mothers Act Out What Might Be The Future Of Their Sons In The US (28 Pics)
Artist Jon Henry started working on his photography series Stranger Fruit back in 2014. What began as a protest against senseless police killings of black people ended up being a lot of other things, too. Most notably, it's an introspective mirror that allows viewers to examine their own take on the subject.
The people we see in the photos are real mothers, posing in their own environment with their actual sons, reenacting what it must feel like to lose them. The mothers are isolated. Alone. Empty. When the trials are over and the protesters have gone home, when the news cameras are gone and nobody is around anymore, the mother remains on the site forever. There's no peace of mind; the scene will always haunt her.
These mothers understand that this could happen to their family at any moment.
More info: jonhenryphotography.com | Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Untitled #44, Crenshaw Blvd, Ca
Chloe Drury 5 years ago
this is why we say black lives matter because people need reminding that POC are humans too.
From a rural area in North Minneapolis to a street corner in Jersey City, Henry has visited a lot of places for the series. "I chose these locations because I could find subjects there," the photographer told Bored Panda. "The locations are where the families live and work. I'm looking for areas that describe the city and/or state from a geographical and architectural point of view."
RELATED:
#2
Stranger Fruit By Jon Henry
Even though these shots are staged, they radiate authenticity. "The families choose whatever they are comfortable with wearing, so that helps the natural feel," Henry explained. "The comfort level with the family also helps the feel of the images. These aren't actors, they are family that [really] consider these issues."
#3
Untitled #35, North Minneapolis, Mn
The photographer wanted the mothers to pose deadpan to appeal more directly to the viewer. And they do. They look directly in our eyes, as if asking, how do we feel and what are we going to do about this. "The viewer can make their own decision on how to respond to the images," Henry concluded.
#4
Untitled #42, Central Los Angeles, Ca
#5
Untitled #5 Parkchester, NY
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 5 years ago
This is heartbreaking...no mother should have to fear for child's life based on solely the colour of their skin.
#6
Untitled #33, Jersey City, Nj
Anxious-lesbian-disaster 5 years ago
This is so sad. No mother should have to fear for her son's life because fo their skin.
#7
“Untitled 48, Inglewood, Ca”
#8
Untitled #19 Magnificent Mile, Il
Garrison Cox 5 years ago
Reminds me of Michelangelo's Pieta in the Vatican. http://www.italianrenaissance.org/michelangelos-pieta/
#9
Untitled #25 Montgomery, Al
#10
Untitled #55 Little Rock, Ar
#11
Untitled #17 South Side Chicago, Il
Omar Pearson 5 years ago
I'm just imagining the people who just don't care and it makes me SMAD!!
#12
Jon Henry, “Untitled 39, Santa Monica, Ca”
Christy Smith 5 years ago
I don’t know what I thought the pics were going to be, but not the exact same thing in each one.
moxie1956 5 years ago
The people in the background seem to have their backs turned to what's happening. If this was real, the turned backs would then smack of indifference.
WildBerry 5 years ago
There wouldn't be any people in the background if this was real because they all would have run for cover when the bullets started.
Load More Replies...
#13
Untitled 53, North Little Rock, Ar
Carole Deem 5 years ago
I have cried over every one of these pictures. people treasure and love each other.
#14
Untitled 56, Houston Tx
#15
“Untitled 45, Oakland, Ca”
#16
Untitled #13 Groveland Park, Il
#17
Untitled 51, New Orleans, La
#18
Untitled #3 Harlem, NY
#19
Untitled #1 Co-Op City, NY
#20
Untitled #29, North Miami, Fl
#21
Untitled #24 Birmingham, Al
#22
Untitled 46, San Francisco, Ca
#23
Stranger Fruit By Jon Henry
#24
Untitled #21, Berwyn, Il
#25
Untitled 50, West Orange Nj
#26
Untitled #31, Wynwood, Fl
#27
Untitled #9 Newburgh, NY
#28
Untitled #11 Buffalo, NY
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Louloubelle 5 years ago
This is heart wrenching. I am not black, but I am a mother, and cannot fathom losing my son. But to lose them to this everyday violence is beyond comprehension.
Up All Night 5 years ago
Why no one fears for the daughters? They are also more likely to get arrested than white girls.
Load More Replies...
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
Since someone will probably say this is tacky, tasteless... See Michelangelo's famous PIeta. Every mother's sorrow over a dead son. That was the artist's point. The humanity. And that's the point of these photos.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
Spot on. Pietà was amongst the first things that came to my mind too. And this series is using art and religious motifs in a very clever way, to make sure we understand it's more than politics - it's a matter of empathy for the fellow human being. It brings out so many points and questions.
Load More Replies...
Logan Jones 5 years ago
It is a shame that so many men (white and black) are being killed on a daily basis not by police but other men. I know this will get down voted because white liberals do NOT really want to raise a single damn finger to stop the 6000 murders of blacks every year. They want to keep us in chains. Keep us dependent on DC millionaires. People will destroy a city because of the 20 + killings by the police. Crickets when it is just another brother shot any other time. Tell me I'm wrong. There will be reckoning for you folks that politicize everything and only promote your agenda. You sacrifice a brother for your politics. You would take out the police know damn well that just gets another brother killed.
Bri Nicole 5 years ago
I am always so shocked when others can't see the value in another life. Just because they don't look like you, doesn't mean they are less than you. They have dreams like you. Why not fight for them too? Black lives matter. Stand with them.
deanna woods 5 years ago
Thank you so much. All of the hateful responses I have seen today have almost brought me to tears, but your response gives me hope.
Load More Replies...
Zaen Syed 5 years ago
This circus they play keeps getting more pathetic maybe stop shooting people then police won't arrest you
Mandy Ginsberg 5 years ago
I am a white mother with a black son who was shot in Seattle and this touched me so deeply im crying but they're thankful tears of joy because my son survived and is thriving and just had his first baby 6 months ago. Please don't ever take this time we have for granted and love on your son today if you can because tomorrow isn't promised to anyone.
Stille20 5 years ago
Initially it seems a bit over the top for mother's that haven't lost their sons, but then again this is the very real fear these mother's live with.
Katchen 5 years ago
I don’t know that these mothers *haven’t* lost other sons.
Load More Replies...
Call Me Mars 5 years ago
I am a black female. I have been racially abused in JUNIOR HIGH. JUNIOR HIGH. Nobody did ANYTHING and I was stuck being tormented through that school until I moved. It is not only sons that have to be scared. It is black daughters as well. I am adopted, and my adoptive parents are white, and my birthmom is black. NOBODY WILL UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF LOSING A DAUGHTER OR A SON. Stop racial viloence now... or face the prece. Protest after protest after protest.Be lucky you don't have to feel FEAR pulsing through your veins every time you set a foot out of YOUR DOOR. Be lucky. Were scared. Edit: I just needed to rant afer seeing this. I did not mean to attack anybody or anything.
Scyth 5 years ago
Listen. I was born in a hellhole where my cousin was assasinated in front of his family and kids for political reasons. Hearing about you truly privileged people whining about verbal slights and abuse, and something that has less than 0.01% of happening unless you resist arrest, is pathetic. This is for everyone, not only directed to you, but stop being a crying victim and do something constructive for once in your lives.
Load More Replies...
Bianca Roxas 5 years ago
Some free advice to appreciate these photos more. Take it or leave it. Rather than just scrolling quickly through each picture, take a few moments to pause for each picture. For each one, gaze somewhat in their eyes, how they seem to be looking at the person behind the screen.
Mary Coelho 5 years ago
heart breaking to see, heartbreaking because it could happen, has happened, my heart goes out to all the families that have lost anyone and to all these brave mothers to pose like this with your children, I pray that nothing like this happens to all you
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
My mom taught me that WE ALL BLEED RED. We are all alive and we all deserve the same chances. The end. If you cried about Sandy Hook, but didn't care when they installed metal detectors in inner-city schools thirty years ago? Reality check yourself. That's all I ask. Reality check yourself. .... And we're all accountable for ourselves, and for the role we play in our society, large and small, as voters, as citizens, as voices, as neighbors. Peace.
Load More Replies...
El Dee 5 years ago
Truly awful. I don't think that until George Floyd was murdered that most white people truly appreciated the depths of racism and racist killings there truly were. It's not to excuse this lack of caring but I can say, with honesty, it truly IS hard to spot racism when it's not directed at you personally. But what has been seen cannot be unseen. I hope none of them face this future in reality. At this point in time we have a REAL chance to change things, if we don't take it then we have failed our children, these children..
Aeon Flux 4 years ago
Sadly, I don't think most white "people truly appreciate the depths of racism" to this day. But I agree Floyd's death woke up a good number.
Load More Replies...
Reign Roelofs 5 years ago
My white privilege has allowed me to never be overly concerned about my son being murdered. I simply can't fathom how difficult is for black moms to live with this real threat. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Emmy 4 years ago
This is heartbreaking. I hate that there is still racism in the world today. I wish people would just grow up and realize that at the end of the day WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. We are all human. Our bodies work the same, we breathe the same air. It just bothers me so much. It honestly seems like most people who are racist are trying to act younger than me. (I'm 13) And I wish people would GROW UP and realize that WE ARE ALL HUMAN!!
Margaret O'Connor 5 years ago
Or they could pose their sons in graduation gowns which is approximately a million times more likely to happen than this.
Lorelai Dewrell 4 years ago
I am crying its not fair that people have to fear for their lives over the color of their skin
Lillian Jimenez 4 years ago
So powerful. I am Latina and my mom had to give my brother the “police talk” and she told him it is important to respect police officers because his skin is brown. This should not happen.
Ramona Rhein 5 years ago
One of the few bored pandas that made me cry. I don’t have any sons. But I have daughters and granddaughters, all headed down the wrong road. Death of a child is the ultimate agony.
Marnie 5 years ago
Just because Black Lives Matter people say that black men are being killed by police because of being black doesn't make it true. The studies do NOT back it up. So, you ask why every time you hear about a shooting, it's always a black guy. That's because BLM specifically states they will take care of black people first, and worry about other people later, so they make a fuss about the death of nearly every black person (whether justified by the situation or not), and so that's all people see. Did you all care about the 14yo autistic boy who was shot after his mother called for help with a mental health care crisis earlier this year? There IS evidence of higher rates of non-lethal force by police towards black people, but not lethal force. Keep in mind: white men are TWENTY times as likely to be killed by police as black women, but black women say they are terrified of being pulled over because they don't want to be killed. Their fear is real, I'm sure, but it is baseless fear.
Zophra 5 years ago
I don't understand this. It doesn't HAVE to be 'acted out" - it is really happening.
Gayatri Chitale 4 years ago
This is so stupid. Pretending you child is dead and making them pose shirtless in public.. sometimes in snow... on the road. reeks of manipulation and melodrama.
Ziva Kravdahl 4 years ago
Let me just ask: If you going to "white" neirbohood are you affraid? How about "black" neirbohood? I bet you do not crossing even if you hurry... That is it.
Scott 4 years ago
This myth of Black victimhood is so rare that Jussie Smollett had to make it up. And when caught there were NO CONSEQUENCES.
Sunny Bibeau Bellisle 5 years ago
I got a heart cramp when I saw they were all titled ''untitled''...
Jade Drew 5 years ago
I am sat with my (white) baby girl sleeping in my arms with tears running down my face. I cannot fathom this being an actual possibility for my baby and my heart breaks for all the families that have experienced this or will experience it. Black lives matter
Akash GG 5 years ago
These beautiful people should be under terrible duress to be able to do this kind of photo-shoot. I'm deeply saddened by the state of 'the greatest country in the world'...
Dani_has_arrived <3 4 years ago
Wow, I didn't realize how bad it really is in America, not just the post itself but the comments as well, I don't think I can read any further
TexasWoman 4 years ago (edited)
Colors don’t matter n too many people don’t understand that. Everyone needs to remember that saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover....” I’m white, but I still feel sorry for the blacks. Just cuz their skin is different, doesn’t mean they are, so why does color matter to people? Sorry to all blacks for this aggravation/stress caused by other races.
Kim Lorton 4 years ago
Not many people understand yhis post! This series of pictures show how black mothers see the future of their sons! Besides them all being dead, their potential To make a life, is gone! Murdered, accidental death, poor health care, racial profiling, police brutality, complete inequality , because of the color of their skin, and what white people see and feel about their superiority. Death is the future and it looks like to them, that it will never change.. this is inequality at its worst. What do you think now?
Diandra “Mss Didi” Blackthorn 4 years ago
A better title for this would be BLACK MOTHERS ACT OUT THE PROBABILITY OF The Future Of Their Sons In The US
Pobin Rice 5 years ago
USA please listen: Fix your gun laws Fix your drug laws Fix your employment laws Fix your abortion laws All will soon be well The world
Lonnie Wilkerson 4 years ago
Stop being so f*****g dramatic. Turn off the media and get a life.
Dave Jones 4 years ago
Here's a neat idea. Get married to the guy you plan to have impregnate you. The statistics show, white or black, you and your children are so screwed when you have a child out of wedlock.
Aeon Flux 4 years ago
1. Look at the percentages. 2. Yes. Disproportionate police violence is a serious problem in the US, and people of other races are killed, too.
Load More Replies...
Joseph Brzezinski 5 years ago
More like 3%. 13% is the total of black people. But mostly men 6.5% and baby and grandpa aren’t out murdering, so about half 3% are responsible for over 50% of murders.
Load More Replies...
Aeon Flux 4 years ago
There is no "race war" you buffoon. Racist white people love pretending the big bad blacks have been coming to get them forever. The truth is this is overwhelmingly one-sided: State power is used to murder black men and women in completely disproportionate numbers.
Load More Replies... 
Stille20 5 years ago
So you don't like violent protests and you don't like peaceful art... So people should just shut up and let the world run over them quietly?
Load More Replies...
Louloubelle 5 years ago
This is heart wrenching. I am not black, but I am a mother, and cannot fathom losing my son. But to lose them to this everyday violence is beyond comprehension.
Up All Night 5 years ago
Why no one fears for the daughters? They are also more likely to get arrested than white girls.
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
Since someone will probably say this is tacky, tasteless... See Michelangelo's famous PIeta. Every mother's sorrow over a dead son. That was the artist's point. The humanity. And that's the point of these photos.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
Spot on. Pietà was amongst the first things that came to my mind too. And this series is using art and religious motifs in a very clever way, to make sure we understand it's more than politics - it's a matter of empathy for the fellow human being. It brings out so many points and questions.
Load More Replies... Logan Jones 5 years ago
It is a shame that so many men (white and black) are being killed on a daily basis not by police but other men. I know this will get down voted because white liberals do NOT really want to raise a single damn finger to stop the 6000 murders of blacks every year. They want to keep us in chains. Keep us dependent on DC millionaires. People will destroy a city because of the 20 + killings by the police. Crickets when it is just another brother shot any other time. Tell me I'm wrong. There will be reckoning for you folks that politicize everything and only promote your agenda. You sacrifice a brother for your politics. You would take out the police know damn well that just gets another brother killed.
Bri Nicole 5 years ago
I am always so shocked when others can't see the value in another life. Just because they don't look like you, doesn't mean they are less than you. They have dreams like you. Why not fight for them too? Black lives matter. Stand with them.
deanna woods 5 years ago
Thank you so much. All of the hateful responses I have seen today have almost brought me to tears, but your response gives me hope.
Load More Replies... Zaen Syed 5 years ago
This circus they play keeps getting more pathetic maybe stop shooting people then police won't arrest you
Mandy Ginsberg 5 years ago
I am a white mother with a black son who was shot in Seattle and this touched me so deeply im crying but they're thankful tears of joy because my son survived and is thriving and just had his first baby 6 months ago. Please don't ever take this time we have for granted and love on your son today if you can because tomorrow isn't promised to anyone.
Stille20 5 years ago
Initially it seems a bit over the top for mother's that haven't lost their sons, but then again this is the very real fear these mother's live with.
Katchen 5 years ago
I don’t know that these mothers *haven’t* lost other sons.
Load More Replies... Call Me Mars 5 years ago
I am a black female. I have been racially abused in JUNIOR HIGH. JUNIOR HIGH. Nobody did ANYTHING and I was stuck being tormented through that school until I moved. It is not only sons that have to be scared. It is black daughters as well. I am adopted, and my adoptive parents are white, and my birthmom is black. NOBODY WILL UNDERSTAND THE FEAR OF LOSING A DAUGHTER OR A SON. Stop racial viloence now... or face the prece. Protest after protest after protest.Be lucky you don't have to feel FEAR pulsing through your veins every time you set a foot out of YOUR DOOR. Be lucky. Were scared. Edit: I just needed to rant afer seeing this. I did not mean to attack anybody or anything.
Scyth 5 years ago
Listen. I was born in a hellhole where my cousin was assasinated in front of his family and kids for political reasons. Hearing about you truly privileged people whining about verbal slights and abuse, and something that has less than 0.01% of happening unless you resist arrest, is pathetic. This is for everyone, not only directed to you, but stop being a crying victim and do something constructive for once in your lives.
Load More Replies... Bianca Roxas 5 years ago
Some free advice to appreciate these photos more. Take it or leave it. Rather than just scrolling quickly through each picture, take a few moments to pause for each picture. For each one, gaze somewhat in their eyes, how they seem to be looking at the person behind the screen.
Mary Coelho 5 years ago
heart breaking to see, heartbreaking because it could happen, has happened, my heart goes out to all the families that have lost anyone and to all these brave mothers to pose like this with your children, I pray that nothing like this happens to all you
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
My mom taught me that WE ALL BLEED RED. We are all alive and we all deserve the same chances. The end. If you cried about Sandy Hook, but didn't care when they installed metal detectors in inner-city schools thirty years ago? Reality check yourself. That's all I ask. Reality check yourself. .... And we're all accountable for ourselves, and for the role we play in our society, large and small, as voters, as citizens, as voices, as neighbors. Peace.
Load More Replies... El Dee 5 years ago
Truly awful. I don't think that until George Floyd was murdered that most white people truly appreciated the depths of racism and racist killings there truly were. It's not to excuse this lack of caring but I can say, with honesty, it truly IS hard to spot racism when it's not directed at you personally. But what has been seen cannot be unseen. I hope none of them face this future in reality. At this point in time we have a REAL chance to change things, if we don't take it then we have failed our children, these children..
Aeon Flux 4 years ago
Sadly, I don't think most white "people truly appreciate the depths of racism" to this day. But I agree Floyd's death woke up a good number.
Load More Replies... Reign Roelofs 5 years ago
My white privilege has allowed me to never be overly concerned about my son being murdered. I simply can't fathom how difficult is for black moms to live with this real threat. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Emmy 4 years ago
This is heartbreaking. I hate that there is still racism in the world today. I wish people would just grow up and realize that at the end of the day WE ARE ALL PEOPLE. We are all human. Our bodies work the same, we breathe the same air. It just bothers me so much. It honestly seems like most people who are racist are trying to act younger than me. (I'm 13) And I wish people would GROW UP and realize that WE ARE ALL HUMAN!!
Margaret O'Connor 5 years ago
Or they could pose their sons in graduation gowns which is approximately a million times more likely to happen than this.
Lorelai Dewrell 4 years ago
I am crying its not fair that people have to fear for their lives over the color of their skin
Lillian Jimenez 4 years ago
So powerful. I am Latina and my mom had to give my brother the “police talk” and she told him it is important to respect police officers because his skin is brown. This should not happen.
Ramona Rhein 5 years ago
One of the few bored pandas that made me cry. I don’t have any sons. But I have daughters and granddaughters, all headed down the wrong road. Death of a child is the ultimate agony.
Marnie 5 years ago
Just because Black Lives Matter people say that black men are being killed by police because of being black doesn't make it true. The studies do NOT back it up. So, you ask why every time you hear about a shooting, it's always a black guy. That's because BLM specifically states they will take care of black people first, and worry about other people later, so they make a fuss about the death of nearly every black person (whether justified by the situation or not), and so that's all people see. Did you all care about the 14yo autistic boy who was shot after his mother called for help with a mental health care crisis earlier this year? There IS evidence of higher rates of non-lethal force by police towards black people, but not lethal force. Keep in mind: white men are TWENTY times as likely to be killed by police as black women, but black women say they are terrified of being pulled over because they don't want to be killed. Their fear is real, I'm sure, but it is baseless fear.
Zophra 5 years ago
I don't understand this. It doesn't HAVE to be 'acted out" - it is really happening.
Gayatri Chitale 4 years ago
This is so stupid. Pretending you child is dead and making them pose shirtless in public.. sometimes in snow... on the road. reeks of manipulation and melodrama.
Ziva Kravdahl 4 years ago
Let me just ask: If you going to "white" neirbohood are you affraid? How about "black" neirbohood? I bet you do not crossing even if you hurry... That is it.
Scott 4 years ago
This myth of Black victimhood is so rare that Jussie Smollett had to make it up. And when caught there were NO CONSEQUENCES.
Sunny Bibeau Bellisle 5 years ago
I got a heart cramp when I saw they were all titled ''untitled''...
Jade Drew 5 years ago
I am sat with my (white) baby girl sleeping in my arms with tears running down my face. I cannot fathom this being an actual possibility for my baby and my heart breaks for all the families that have experienced this or will experience it. Black lives matter
Akash GG 5 years ago
These beautiful people should be under terrible duress to be able to do this kind of photo-shoot. I'm deeply saddened by the state of 'the greatest country in the world'...
Dani_has_arrived <3 4 years ago
Wow, I didn't realize how bad it really is in America, not just the post itself but the comments as well, I don't think I can read any further
TexasWoman 4 years ago (edited)
Colors don’t matter n too many people don’t understand that. Everyone needs to remember that saying, “don’t judge a book by its cover....” I’m white, but I still feel sorry for the blacks. Just cuz their skin is different, doesn’t mean they are, so why does color matter to people? Sorry to all blacks for this aggravation/stress caused by other races.
Kim Lorton 4 years ago
Not many people understand yhis post! This series of pictures show how black mothers see the future of their sons! Besides them all being dead, their potential To make a life, is gone! Murdered, accidental death, poor health care, racial profiling, police brutality, complete inequality , because of the color of their skin, and what white people see and feel about their superiority. Death is the future and it looks like to them, that it will never change.. this is inequality at its worst. What do you think now?
Diandra “Mss Didi” Blackthorn 4 years ago
A better title for this would be BLACK MOTHERS ACT OUT THE PROBABILITY OF The Future Of Their Sons In The US
Pobin Rice 5 years ago
USA please listen: Fix your gun laws Fix your drug laws Fix your employment laws Fix your abortion laws All will soon be well The world
Lonnie Wilkerson 4 years ago
Stop being so f*****g dramatic. Turn off the media and get a life.
Dave Jones 4 years ago
Here's a neat idea. Get married to the guy you plan to have impregnate you. The statistics show, white or black, you and your children are so screwed when you have a child out of wedlock.
Aeon Flux 4 years ago
1. Look at the percentages. 2. Yes. Disproportionate police violence is a serious problem in the US, and people of other races are killed, too.
Load More Replies... Joseph Brzezinski 5 years ago
More like 3%. 13% is the total of black people. But mostly men 6.5% and baby and grandpa aren’t out murdering, so about half 3% are responsible for over 50% of murders.
Load More Replies... Aeon Flux 4 years ago
There is no "race war" you buffoon. Racist white people love pretending the big bad blacks have been coming to get them forever. The truth is this is overwhelmingly one-sided: State power is used to murder black men and women in completely disproportionate numbers.
Load More Replies... Stille20 5 years ago
So you don't like violent protests and you don't like peaceful art... So people should just shut up and let the world run over them quietly?
Load More Replies...
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