SANTA CRUZ >> As anyone who lived through the summer of 2020 can tell you, it was an unforgettable time. While many were hunkering at home due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, there was one thing that drew large numbers of people out of their homes to gather: the fight for racial justice.

Prior to the summer, there was widespread coverage of Black individuals being killed by law enforcement officers, namely the Memorial Day killing of George Floyd, who died of mechanical asphyxia after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck during an arrest for eight minutes.

This moment was the catalyst for protests in communities across the world throughout the summer that called for many actions, including racial justice, equity and police accountability. These protests made their way to Santa Cruz, which the Sentinel extensively documented through both its news coverage and its photos that captured the frustration, anguish, passion and moments of solidarity during these protests.

The Sentinel’s primary photographers during that time, Shmuel Thaler and Kevin Painchaud, have compiled more than 40 images taken during those rallies for a new photo exhibit at the London Nelson Community Center, “From Pain to Power: A Photographic Glimpse into a Defining Moment in Santa Cruz History.” The exhibition opens June 30 with an event that also features a community panel with key organizers from that summer’s movement.

Thaler, a Sentinel photographer since 1987, said he and Painchaud — now a photographer for Lookout Santa Cruz — had been talking to some of those involved in the 2020 protests for a while, and when they realized the five-year anniversary was coming up, they decided to commemorate it with a photo exhibit.

“It was important to mark the moment with remembrance of the important things that happened and the continuing work that is being done,” said Thaler.

Thaler and Painchaud chose the photos they felt best captured the spirit of the rallies and also received input from some of the community figures who will serve as panelists at the June 30 event: then-Santa Cruz Mayor and current county Supervisor Justin Cummings; Esabella Bonner, founder and executive director of Black Surf Santa Cruz; Joy Flynn, co-founder of the Santa Cruz County Black Coalition for Justice and Racial Equity and a current Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Education trustee; and Abi Mustapha, a mural artist who helped create the Black Lives Matter mural on Center Street in front of Santa Cruz City Hall. Also helping to curate the images was community organizer Thairie Ritchie, who is currently recovering from self-immolation in January.When he began covering the protests, Thaler said he was a little intimidated at first — not because of the protests but because of the concurrent pandemic. However, the protests being outside with participants masked up made it easier.

“The importance of what was happening overrode whatever personal concerns I had,” he said. “This was really, really important stuff going on and, in my opinion, continues to go on. We as journalists need to be covering what’s happening in our community and what our community cares about.”

The most striking image for Thaler was one he snapped of then-police Chief Andy Mills kneeling in solidarity with Cummings during a May 30, 2020, gathering along Pacific Avenue. The image of a Black mayor kneeling with a white police chief garnered a lot of attention on social media and was widely shared.

“It wasn’t planned, it just kind of ended up happening the way it did,” Cummings told the Sentinel at the time.

Thaler also commented on the “unscripted” nature of the action, emphasizing that Cummings and Mills did it in a way that did not draw attention to themselves.

“I saw it and knew that there was something special that was happening there, and it was a moment that needed to be recorded,” he said.

Fortunately, Thaler said Painchaud grabbed an image of Flynn kneeling and holding a sign that said, “I can’t breathe” — a reference to the last words of Eric Garner who was killed by a police chokehold during an arrest in New York in 2014, and was uttered by Floyd multiple times during his fatal arrest — at the intersection of Pacific Avenue and Front Street at the same time. This allowed him to observe other things at the protest, including the action by Mills and Cummings. Thaler said it is his most viewed picture in his 50-plus years of photojournalism.

“It’s not necessarily the best picture I’ve ever taken, but it’s the most important,” he said.

The protests helped make Santa Cruz a focal point during the fight for racial justice. However, not all attention was positive, as the police department was vandalized with graffiti and windows of downtown businesses were broken following a protest — which officials condemned as not representative of the earlier peaceful protest. Still, the energy of the rallies made its way to government meetings. Santa Cruz became the first city to ban predictive policing and facial recognition technologies, except in cases where the City Council provided explicit approval and special findings were made, and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors declared racism a “public health crisis.”

The panel discussion, moderated by Thomas Sage Pedersen of Speak for Change, will reflect on that tumultuous summer with Bonner, Cummings, Flynn and Mustapha, sharing personal insights and speaking on what inspired them to take action during that pivotal time in American history.

The event will also feature a short documentary on the creation of the Black Lives Matter mural created by Mustapha, Taylor Reinhold, Sean McGowen and Shandara Gill. The mural was defaced in 2021 and again in 2023, with suspects arrested in both cases. The mural was given a new coat of paint June 7.

Thaler said the panel discussion will allow attendees to hear from those involved with the protests and the movement for change.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to interact with all these folks that have had a huge impact on our community and the continuing social and racial reckoning that’s going on,” he said.

Thaler hopes viewers will understand “the courage the leaders have had to put themselves on the line to advocate for and bring attention to issues that are important.”

He continued, “What they’re doing is not easy. I think it’s a tribute to them, and the photographs just reflect that.”

The exhibit opens at 6 p.m. June 30 and will remain on display throughout July at the London Nelson Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. Opening remarks and the film screening begin at 6:30, and the panel discussion begins at 7. The event is free and open to the public.