Finalist: Where Do We Call Home?
These images, taken from December 2023 through May 2024, document the Muslim community of Oxford, Mississippi, and their friends from nearby Memphis, Tenn. As many University of Mississippi students began protesting against Israeli genocide in Palestine in October of 2023, I began documenting their efforts, as did many photojournalists in their own communities around the country and the world. I heard many of my fellow students wonder aloud why the United States should care about something happening to people thousands of miles away. Through this work, I sought to show that those people aren't actually thousands of miles away at all. They are classmates and coworkers and friends. The title of this project comes from a conversation I had with several women sitting on the grass outside the Oxford masjid. We are all from many countries and many cities, from Lahore, Pakistan to Gaza to Memphis, TN, USA, yet at that particular time, we all called Oxford, Mississippi, home.
Flying the Bird
A crowd of white male University of Mississippi students flip off University of Mississippi graduate student Jaylin R. Smith, who participates in a pro-Palestine protest on the University of Mississippi Quad on May, 2, 2024, in Oxford, Miss. Smith returns the gesture. Approximately 40 pro-Palestinian protestors gathered on the Quad and were met by a crowd of several hundred counter protestors, who shouted slurs and insults for nearly 2 hours before the groups were separated by University of Mississippi police. Some of the phrases shouted by the counter protestors included "Go take a shower," death threats toward Muslim students, and monkey-like gestures directed specifically toward Smith.
HG Biggs
