I was caught by surprise yesterday afternoon when we heard people demonstrating right in front of our house, marching towards the town square. These days my gear is always ready and I rushed out. Some interesting notes: Watertown police had minor presence and just helped with car traffic control. I saw only three officers at the scene, two of them senior officers. A lot of families participated and brought their young children. Most demonstrators were white folks, standing up for the black community. Everybody was wearing a face mask. In the middle of my reportage my face mask broke apart. I was struggling to fix it and had a hard time. A woman approached me with a plastic bag that contained a brand new mask and gave it to me. I didn’t know how to thank her. People are just good. During the 9 minute kneel down I was struggling in my mind. Should I kneel down too or perform my professional obligations as a journalist and do my work? I did both. I took most of my pictures while kneeling down and walked as little as possible. It was a very emotional experience. No matter what your job is, when you are caught in a situation, your humanity will react to the circumstances. The only difference is that you learn to balance the emotions and perform your duty.
