Featuring: Kendall Bessent, Christian K Lee, Marissa Leshnov, Ashley Peña, SHAN Wallace
This series brings together portraits of the ‘Panther cubs’, the children of the Black Panther Party, each reflecting on a childhood shaped by pride, loss and political struggle.
Raised within the 1970s movement for Black equality and self-determination, they sang the Black National Anthem instead of the Pledge of Allegiance, lived under FBI surveillance, and learned vigilance early; for many, a parent’s incarceration left lasting wounds.
Now adults, they continue to wrestle with the contradictions of their extraordinary childhoods: deep pride and love for the Panther community alongside profound loss of parents, security, and the hope for a revolution that never came.
Their reflections reveal how the promises and fractures of one era echo into the next, shaping families, identities, and futures long after movements fade. Fifty years on, they carry both the beauty and burden of a legacy they didn’t choose and a hope for radical change that still endures.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Kendall Bessent is a photographer and director whose work captures the essence of Black identity, heritage, and storytelling. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, and based between New York and London, his work is influenced by his Southern roots, blending cultural narratives with intimate visuals that showcase the beauty and resilience of the Black experience. Through his photography, Bessent aims to instill self-love and confidence, ensuring Black stories are told and honored with depth, beauty, and authenticity.
Christian K Lee is a documentary photographer born in Chicago, Illinois. His background as a photojournalist drives his desire to utilize art as an investigative tool. He believes that it can foster understanding where words fail.
Marissa Leshnov is a Black and Russian American photographer based in Los Angeles, California. Through her soft and intimate portraiture, her work explores the complexity of intersectional identity and belonging in the American West. She believes that images have the power to shape public imagination and views photography as an act of political importance, emphasizing the need for photographs that add depth and nuance to existing narratives. As a lifelong student of photography, she often references the visual vocabulary of Black image-makers who came before her.
Ashley Peña is an image maker interested in examining relationships between Africa, the Caribbean and America through her Dominican-American heritage. She examines histories disrupted by occupation, settlement, and exploitation- histories that persist, unhealed, in the present & seeks to create a trace of what was, and what still lingers today. Her practice is an act of reckoning with the brutality of history and legacy as they continue to shape our world. Through research-based imaging, boundaries between the past, present and future merge and time begins to fold within itself. By blending image with material, she seeks to show the layered, multidimensional realities of our histories.
SHAN Wallace is a nomadic, award-winning interdisciplinary artist, archivist, and image maker, from Baltimore, MD. Wallace utilizes a range of media to weave narratives and imagine new stories. Rooted in image-making techniques such as photography, film, and collage, as well as in situ installations, these media serve as the foundation of her artistic practice.
Organizations
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The Guardian
The Guardian is a global, reader-funded news organization committed to high-quality journalism, progressive values, and editorial independence. Founded in 1821, the Guardian is renowned for its rigorous reporting and commentary on politics, the environment, social justice, sports, wellness, and culture geared for a global audience.
In the US, the Guardian has more than 100 editorial staff members across its bureaus in New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles. Its agenda-setting journalism draws an audience of more than 40 million US readers every month, making it one of the top news sites in America. The Guardian’s US newsroom has been recognized with several awards, including the George Polk Award, Scripps Howard Award, Edward R Murrow Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.
Radical Change Isn’t Free
Featuring: Various Artists
Curated by: Gail Fletcher
Locations
View Location Details Download a detailed map of this location Brooklyn Bridge Park – Emily Warren Roebling Plaza1 Water St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
This location is part of Brooklyn Bridge Park
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The views and opinions expressed in this exhibit are those of the exhibition artists and partners and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Photoville or any other participants and partners of the Photoville Festival.
Banner Art Direction and Design: Chris Clarke, Harry Fischer
Original Journalism: Ed Pilkington
