Pop Culture

Darnella Frazier, Teen Who Filmed George Floyd’s Murder, Awarded Special Pulitzer Nod

The 104-year-old group awards a citizen journalist who made a tremendous impact.

The Pulitzer Prizes, administered and awarded by Columbia University for achievements in journalism, drama, music, and photography, handed out prizes on Friday to a number of noteworthy institutions and individuals. But one honor, in particular, stands out: The Pulitzer Board gave a special citation to Darnella Frazier, the then-17-year-old who used her mobile phone last May to record then-police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, killing him. 

The Pulitzer’s announcement said that her award was “for courageously recording the murder of George Floyd, a video that spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice.”

During Chauvin’s murder trial, which included Frazier’s video as evidence, the young woman testified off-camera and “gave at times tearful testimony,” according to the Washington Post. 

“When I look at George Floyd, I [look at] my dad,” she said when asked how taking the video had affected her life. “I have a Black father. I have a Black brother. I have Black friends. And I look at that and I look at how that could have been one of them.”

Special citations and awards at the Pulitzers are not unheard of: Frazier makes the 45th, putting her in the company of extraordinary individuals such as John Coltrane, George Gershwin, Ray Bradbury, E.B. White, Alex Haley, Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, and “the Cartographers of the United States of America.”

This year’s Pulitzer winners include Robert Greene of the Los Angeles Times for editorial writing, Wesley Morris of the New York Times for criticism (his second win), and Louise Erdrich for fiction prize, for her novel The Night Watchman. The Associated Press won for breaking news photography and Minneapolis’s Star Tribune won for breaking news photography.

Film critic Amy Taubin gave her top prize in the Best Films of 2020 in Artforum to “the handy, affordable-to-everyone, moving-image camera.” She noted that the “year’s most powerful footage was not mediated by artists but was transmitted raw from the cell phones of citizens like Darnella Frazier, who, by turning their lens on acts of injustice, have mobilized us against state power in numbers never before seen.”

More Great Stories From Vanity Fair

— An Oral History of A Different World, as Told by the Cast and Crew
— Home Truths: How HGTV, Magnolia, and Netflix Are Building a Massive Space
Cruella de Vil Is Wicked—But Tallulah Bankhead Was Even Wilder
— Why Mare of Easttown Always Had to End That Way
— Cover Story: Issa Rae Says Goodbye to Insecure
Kathryn Hahn All Along
— Why Kim’s Convenience Matters
— Court Dismisses Anti-Trans Assault Lawsuit Against Rosario Dawson
— From the Archive: When Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez Made Perfect Sense

— Sign up for the “HWD Daily” newsletter for must-read industry and awards coverage—plus a special weekly edition of Awards Insider.

Products You May Like

Articles You May Like

Eddie Murphy’s son and Martin Lawrence’s daughter announce they’re engaged – National
Book Riot’s Deals of the Day for December 6, 2024
Jay-Z vs. Diddy Case Attorney Tony Buzbee: Everything to Know
What Is A Tachymeter Watch And How Do You Use It?
Christina Applegate Recalls Experiencing MS Symptoms on the Set of ‘Dead to Me’