The May 17, 1963, issue of Life Magazine featured a photo essay of appalling images taken by the American photographer Charles Moore. The opening paragraph bluntly stated that “The pictures on these 11 pages are frightening. They are frightening because of the brutal methods being used by white policemen in Birmingham, Alabama, against Negro demonstrators . . . And they are especially frightening because the gulf between black and white is here visibly deepened.” Known as the Birmingham campaign, Moore’s photographs of this senseless brutality sent shockwaves throughout the country and the world of the deeply embedded social and institutional racism and segregation of the South.

On May 2, 1963, under direct orders from Birmingham’s then Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene “Bull” Connor, all African Americans participating in a nonviolent demonstration organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference were to be subdued with high-pressure water blasts from fire hoses and violently attacked and taunted by police dogs.

After seeing Moore’s photos in Life, Andy Warhol created a series of Race Riot paintings using a terrifying image of Moore’s of a man being attacked by a German shepherd in his trademark acrylic and silkscreen process. Interestingly, the title Race Riot is a contradiction because it was in fact a peaceful protest interrupted by the violence of the police.

There is a menacing quality to the music that I hope conveys both Moore’s original photo and Warhol’s appropriation.

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