Photo of girl at protest inspires some, concerns others,
The image is at once startling and uplifting: a toddler in a sea of protesters, her tiny hand curled in a symbol of solidarity.
Three-year-old Nahla Barksdale didn’t understand why so many people had thronged the street in front of Orlando Police Department Headquarters on Tuesday. She’s too young to know much about racism or about George Floyd, the handcuffed black man who pleaded for his life before dying as a police officer knelt on his neck.
“She thought it was a party, because everyone was there,” said Nahla’s mother, 27-year-old Nina Pinheiro of Orlando, who brought her daughter along to the demonstration after picking her up from preschool.
The image, taken by veteran Orlando Sentinel photographer Joe Burbank, has been shared hundreds of times on social media this week.
On Thursday, the photo was featured in NBC Nightly News’ Kids Edition in a broadcast about the racial tensions that have roiled the U.S. and world since
Floyd was killed May 25 in Minneapolis.
Pinheiro knew she’d face criticism for bringing her daughter to the protest. Images and videos of demonstrations in Central Florida and beyond, flooding news reports and social media, have been inspiring but also frightening as gatherings occasionally turned ugly.
Pinheiro said she and her daughter, along with Nahla’s stepfather, Cameron Hope, were at Tuesday’s event for about 30 minutes and stayed off to the side, away from crowds.
“Something big is happening, so I wanted her to be a part of it,” Pinheiro said. “I feel safe in my community. I live here. I work here. Nahla was safe.”
Pinheiro and Hope encouraged Nahla to join the chant of “No justice, no peace,” and Hope taught the girl the raised-fist salute, a gesture of black empowerment that hearkens back to the civil rights movement.
“She thought she was a superhero,” Pinheiro said.
“It’s just a symbol of the occa