Journalist Shirin Barghi began a project after Michael Brown was shot and killed last year by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson. The project, #LastWords, highlights the final moments of these victims' lives and her work on it continues today.
The illustrations display the victim's final words, name, age and date of the victim's death accompanied by her own unique drawing to symbolize the tragedy. She posts her work on Twitter and they've gone viral. "I created these images to raise awareness about racist police violence in America and as an expression of solidarity," she tweeted, revealing that she experienced police brutality in her native country of Iran.
"I didn't expect this project to continue, or take off the way it did,” she told Mic.
Christian Taylor's last words are her latest addition. "I don't want to die too younggggg," the college football player said when the Texas police gunned him down on Aug. 7:
Eric Garner, who was choked to death by a New York police officer last July after being accused of illegally selling cigarettes, was another inspiration for the #LastWords project, Barghi said.
Her work includes more than a dozen illustrations, including these:
After 23-year-old Sean Bell's bachelor party in 2006, his friend Joseph Guzman told him he loved him as they attempted to escape the onslaught of bullets police fired at them. Bell said, "I love you too."
In 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was killed by a police officer who claimed that he meant to reach for his taser and not his gun.
Former college football player Jonathan Ferrell, 24, sought help after a car accident. Police didn't give him time to say anything before fatally shooting him 10 times.
Find the rest of Barghi's #LastWords project on her website.
H/T Mic
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