Pyramid of Protest, Grant Park during the 1968 Democratic National Convention,

1968, printed 1972

In 1968, following the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy and with coverage of the Vietnam War intensifying, disenfranchised protestors became more confrontational. During the Democratic National Convention, numerous groups planned to converge in Chicago to mark their opposition to the war, including the Black Panther Party and the Youth International Party, or Yippies. Photojournalist Fred McDarrah depicts a scene of communal defiance as young demonstrators gather in Chicago’s Grant Park, one of the battlegrounds between anti-war protesters and the authorities. The display of force by the National Guard in front of the Hilton Hotel, where the delegates were staying, creates a juxtaposition that underscores the choreographic qualities of protests.