March 1, 2002

Black History Month observed at Loyola

by Khail Jetha, A'03, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications

The Civil Rights Movement was remembered on February 7 during a photojournalism exhibition featuring acclaimed photographer Spider Martin.

An ardent supporter of the movement, Martin describes himself as "born into the movement." Martin always considered himself closely tied to the black community; from birth to the age of 5, he was raised by a black nanny, whom he regarded as his mother.

Martin was born in 1939 and raised in a small Alabama town. An eyewitness to the protests, Martin became a photographer by mistake. Originally an art student at the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, he brought a camera and a roll of film to the notorious Bloody Sunday protest, snapped pictures of the violence, and was approached later by a spectator who offered to pay him for the prints. It was only after Martin saw the photographs in newspapers crediting him that he realized the potential a photographer could have on the world.

"I knew then that these pictures I was taking could change the world," he revealed. Martin's pictures were published internationally in countries such as Great Britain, France, Germany, and Spain. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., praised photographers like Martin because of the attention the photographs brought to the Civil Rights Movement.

Unfortunately, not everyone supported Martin or appreciated his work. Constantly harassed by the Klu Klux Klan, Martin was forced to move several times throughout his life, eventually settling "deep into rural Alabama."

Since 1967, he has remained a staunch advocate of human rights, traveling to places like Cuba and Guatemala between working as a freelance photographer. However, he still fights for civil rights at home, helping the hearing-impaired, the blind, and even doing work for animal rights.

"There's still so much left to be done," Martin insisted. "My motto is 'stamp out injustice,' and that's what I try my hardest to do."