Baton Rouge protester in flowing dress is identified as Ieshia Evans

[uhnope]

Source: Daily Mail UK

EXCLUSIVE: 'This is the work of God. I am a vessel': NYC nurse behind powerful protest picture, who traveled to Baton Rouge to march for 'a better future for her son', speaks out after night in jail

-Woman who was captured in iconic arrest photo from Baton Rouge has been revealed as 28-year-old Ieshia Evans
-Evans, a licensed practical nurse and mother to a five-year-old son, was attending her first protest on Saturday
-Friends told Dailymail.com that she was arrested as police tried to push demonstrators back from their building
-Evans found their actions unjust, as the protest was peaceful, so crossed her arms and stared them down
-She was held for 24 hours but has now been released and is recovering in a hotel room before traveling home

It is the photo seen around the world: A young woman in a flowing dress standing with her arms crossed facing down a line of heavily armed police while two armored officers rush forward to put her in handcuffs.

Now Dailymail.com can exclusively reveal the woman to be Ieshia Evans, 28, a mother and licensed practical nurse from New York, who was attending her first protest when she was arrested.

Natasha Haynes said Evans, a lifelong friend, traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, following the shooting of Alton Sterling because she 'wanted a better future for her five-year-old son'.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3683863/Woman-icon-Baton-Rouge-mother-five-year-old-son-attending-protest-wants-better-future-him.html

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Mods: this is an update with the woman identified for the first time

[allan01]

1. bravo.

[Peregrine Took]

2. Shocked by the horrid comments on the Daily Mail article

The photo is so obviously "iconic" (to use an over used word when it is appropriate) and 'thought the comments would surely agree with that observation.
Not at all - called her all manner of names phony, opportunist, publicity seeker plus the DM published several selfies that had her in "show off" type poses.

[brett_jv]

6. I'm thinking Daily Mail is part of the Murdoch empire ...

So it's not surprising to me to find it's general readership tends to take a dim view of any non-white folk.

[Spider Jerusalem]

39. Nope, it's owned by Lord Rothermere

or rather by the "Daily Mail and General Trust" which he controls, see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Harmsworth,_4th_Viscount_Rothermere

[longship]

3. I will support any DU thread with this picture.

It is iconic. It is Pulitzer worthy.

The cops look manic and off balance; even stumbling. The woman, sure of foot, is calm. That her long dress has caught a breeze helps capture the scene and her demeanor of calm, collected, and thoughtful resolution.

I have not seen such a news photograph as this for many years. One picture tells a rather much larger story.

Give that Reuters photog a Pulitzer.

[Helen Borg]

4. Yeh, give the photog a Pulitzer, but...

She is the brave one here...

[longship]

8. No doubt!

But the fact that it was captured was the work of a photo journalist.

She justly deserves her part, but it would not be known without this Pulitzer worthy pic.

Let's put it this way:

It is an astounding pic of a moment with an equally astounding woman.

on edit: And she's a nurse, which makes it all the more awesome.

[PJMcK]

18. And she's a mother which is pretty awesome, too

Think of the potential danger she faced! The (military) police could have shot her or tazed her or thrown her to the pavement. But Ms. Evans said she wanted "a better future for her son" so she defiantly, bravely and as an American, stood her ground.

Give the photographer a Pulitzer but give her our thanks, admiration and support.

[longship]

19. I agree. Invite her to speak at the DNC Convention.

And let her be introduced by that Reuters photog.

That would be way cool.

[PJMcK]

21. Great idea! (n/t)

[lostnfound]

30. And she's humble, all the more awesome

"This is the work of God. I am a vessel."

Inspired.
You don't have to be a member of organized religion to appreciate the idea of justice being a spirit that wants to be heard.

[Surya Gayatri]

5. Massive K & R.

[calimary]

7. Strikes me almost as a live latter-day version of Justice. As in the statue.

She's beautiful, brave, and heroic, standing straight and tall, facing down the storm-troopers alone, peacefully, in flowing robes. She's clearly posing no threat to them with her empty hands, devoid of weapons, wearing no heavy war garb or gear, grossly outnumbered, standing there with no backup (unlike them).

Yeah, it does kinda remind me of that single Chinese man standing in the middle of the road, all by himself, in the way of a line of rather ferocious-looking tanks.

A really remarkable image.

Gotta say, I'm watching Diamond Reynolds being interviewed by Tamron Hall on MSNBC. I SO DEEPLY feel for that woman. For ALL Black women. This mother feels deeply for the mothers. This former girlfriend-turned-wife feels deeply for the girlfriends and fiancées and wives. They're watching their sons, their husbands, their lovers, forcibly taken from them, gunned down - sometimes IN FRONT OF THEM, killed, and their lives and hopes for the future ripped to pieces. I have a husband and a son. My advantage is that I and they are white. What Diamond Reynolds and TOO MANY other Black women have to deal with is something I will probably never have to face, personally, just because of my skin color. Governor Mark Dayton was RIGHT when he said this nightmare wouldn't have happened if the people in that car had been white. He's 100% RIGHT!

Diamond Reynolds could well be that woman in the photo here, too. Standing up - ALONE, confronting some very bad and sad truths. And great loss. Her poise and composure just knocks me on my ass. I don't know how I could ever have had the presence of mind to do what she did that day, being that clear-headed and focused enough to get it on the record with her iPhone camera - while the man she loved was slumped against her, bleeding to death, while the crazed, panicky cop could still be seen in a war-stance, stiff-armed with that damn gun still pointed, screaming at them in a frenzy, long after they were rendered no threat to him.

That cop demonstrated behavior that CLEARLY shows he had no business out there with a gun, with a trigger-finger that itchy, with instincts that panicky, emotions that overwrought, under-controlled, and woefully under-managed. Indeed, as we later learned, he was so shaken up that his fellow officers piled around HIM to comfort HIM and take care of HIM, while Diamond Reynolds was detained in the back of one of their cars, and the man he shot was DYING. Nobody was crowding around him or trying to comfort or take care of him, or try to apply any first aid, or comfort HER.

My head spins. And my heart hurts.

[OldRedneck]

9. Reminds me of this . . .

[Borchkins]

10. That's the image that popped into my head when I saw her.

Powerful.
B

[longship]

13. BTW, he was killed. nt

[NutmegYankee]

17. I had heard that China never found out who was.

And it is believed that he is still alive.

[caraher]

32. It doesn't appear his identity or fate are known with any certainty

Lots of speculation via Wikipedia

Little is publicly known of the man's identity or that of the commander of the lead tank. Shortly after the incident, the British tabloid the Sunday Express named him as Wang Weilin ( 王维林 ), a 19-year-old student[11] who was later charged with "political hooliganism" and "attempting to subvert members of the People's Liberation Army."[12] However, this claim has been rejected by internal Communist Party of China documents, which reported that they could not find the man, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights.[13] One party member was quoted as saying, "We can’t find him. We got his name from journalists. We have checked through computers but can’t find him among the dead or among those in prison."[13] Numerous theories have sprung up as to the man's identity and current whereabouts.[14]

There are several conflicting stories about what happened to him after the demonstration. In a speech to the President's Club in 1999, Bruce Herschensohn, former deputy special assistant to President Richard Nixon, reported that he was executed 14 days later; other sources say he was executed by firing squad a few months after the Tiananmen Square protests.[8] In Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now, Jan Wong writes that she believes from her interactions with the government press that they have "no idea who he was either" and that he's still alive somewhere on the mainland.

The government of the People's Republic of China has made few statements about the incident or the people involved. In a 1990 interview with Barbara Walters, then-CPC General Secretary Jiang Zemin was asked what became of the man. Jiang first stated (through an interpreter), "I can't confirm whether this young man you mentioned was arrested or not," and then replied in English, "I think never killed" [sic].[15] The government also said the actions of the man not coming to harm showed the humility of the country's military.[16][not in citation given]

In a 2000 interview with Mike Wallace, Jiang Zemin said, "He was never arrested." He then stated, "I don't know where he is now." He also emphasized that the tank stopped and did not run the young man down.[17]

[longship]

33. Thank you. Very intriguing. nt

[Sunlei]

11. people should lay down and make those police carry them

[beastie boy]

12. Reminded me of this image of an Aikido master

tackling multiple opponents with perfect poise and tranquility

[BlueStreak]

14. Luckily they had handcuffs handy -- otherwise they would have to just shoot her dead.

[Sunlei]

15. 92F in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Not even a scuff on the police solar roasting suits.

[PatSeg]

23. Seriously

Do you suppose they have any idea how ridiculous they looked? Robot Cop wannabees. How pathetic.

[philosslayer]

27. My reaction as well

Paranoia among the police would be laughable if it wearing so scary

[PatSeg]

41. I really hope

they look at that picture realize how the rest of the world sees them.

[crosinski]

16. Transcendent Moment

Last edited Mon Jul 11, 2016, 04:52 PM - Edit history (1)

She’s transcendent in that moment. The Divine Feminine, there to protect her children, and look at how afraid they are of her! They know they’re on the wrong side. They might not know it in their heads, but they know it in their guts. She’s standing for us all, calmly, solidly, with grace.

[Igel]

22. Yup.

It's nice that she speaks fluent fundie.

As for iconicity. The first time it's novel and creative. The second time it's imitation and derivative.

[crosinski]

24. What dreams may come.

Wait for it Horatio, wait for it.

[Tarheel_Dem]

20. K&R!

[glowing]

25. OMG, could the comments on the article be any more racist or obtuse?

[Lucky Luciano]

26. I love this woman! Such a shining star! nt

[FailureToCommunicate]

28. Brave mother. Over militarized police reminds me of this photo from Ferguson...

[irisblue]

35. this picture freaked me the f out. Horrible

[central scrutinizer]

29. Another pic from another era

[link:|

[Statistical]

31. The crazy thing is that was national guard. Compare that photo to what the police is using today.

[Akoto]

34. Outstanding woman, remarkable photography.

As a man, I am inspired by Ieshia Evans and the devotion to her beliefs shown here. She wants a better world for her son, and she's doing what she can to make certain he gets one. Strikes me that as the police are ridiculously charging her in their heavy armor, she's standing perfectly calm and still, head held high while asserting her right to peacefully protest.

Also, as an aside, the photographer who took that picture probably captured the image of his lifetime. Talk about fate putting you exactly where and when you're needed.

[Judi Lynn]

36. I'd like to thank uawchild for catching this photo originally. It was greatly appreciated. n/t

[uhnope]

47. just say no

to RT, Telesur, FOX, Alex Jones dot com...

[Judi Lynn]

37. They look so frightened, they would have jumped 6 ft. in the air, had she blinked her eyes. n/t

[SunSeeker]

38. K & R

[sulphurdunn]

40. If one of those riot cops fell down

could he get back up?

[hamsterjill]

42. Bravery and tenacity.

I salute this young woman's resolve.

[TryLogic]

43. She has my respect and admiration!

Question: How many police officers are white supremacists?

Another question: Are southern racists itching for a rematch after 150 years?

PS: I'm white.

[Kurovski]

44. Even the breeze cooperated.

Great image.

[Lisa0825]

46. I KNOW, RIGHT??? LOL! I had the same thought! nt

[guillaumeb]

45. Recommended.

Robocops versus freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech lost.