A group of black medical students recently gathered in front of a former slave plantation to pose for a series of powerful photos meant to illustrate the “connection between America’s past and America’s present.”
According to CNN , the Tulane University students made the trip from New Orleans to Edgard, Louisiana all dressed in their white coats, to stand together in front of a building that was once used as the plantation’s slave quarters.
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One of the students, Russell Ledet, said he got the idea for the photos after he and his 8-year-old daughter visited Whitney Plantation in Edgard, Louisiana.
“Her insight [to the visit] was, “This is not fair. This is not supposed to happen,”‘ Ledet told CNN . “So I had this idea that we need to get the black medical students at Tulane and we need come here. We need to do this for ourselves.”
While proposing the concept of the photo shoot to his classmates, Ledet told them the snaps would illustrate “this connection between America’s past and America’s present.”
Clearly his words struck a chord with his peers, as a group of 15 joined him on a tour of the plantation, armed with their white coats and ready to take some especially powerful photos.
One of his classmates, Sydney Labat, admitted she began crying after arriving at the historic location.
“Initially, I didn’t understand what was going on because the emotions rushed through me,” she told People . “I started to cry thinking about [how] these people who we’re descendants of had the harshest life and the harshest conditions and wanted nothing but better for themselves and better for their children.”
She added, “I am grateful that they were resilient because that allows me to be resilient and that allows me to be in this position that I am today.”
Labat and several other students shared the photos on social media where they soon went viral.
In her Instagram post, Labat captioned the series of powerful pictures, “We are truly our ancestors’ wildest dreams.”
“As physicians in training, we stood on the steps of what was once slave quarters for our ancestors. This was such a powerful experience, and it honestly brought me to tears. For black people pursing a career in medicine, keep going. For our entire community, keep striving. Resilience is in our DNA.”
Labat said the group’s intention was never to go viral.
“You just get a feeling, and you think this is going to be impactful and this is going to mean something,” she told CNN . “It’s not about going viral or the attention … it’s about being inspirational.”
The students hope their pictures will inspire black students everywhere.
As Labat told CNN ,
“We hope that we will make a lifelong impact … and let [students] know: Yes, you can be smart. Yes, you can be successful … and you can also do that while being unapologetically black and proud of where you come from and proud of where you are going.”
In order to make that lifelong impact, they plan on placing those snaps in 100,000 schools across the country.
Ledet told USA Today he wants each person present in the photo to sign the 100,000 framed copies they hope to one day hang in classrooms. Although they’re still figuring out how to accomplish that goal, Ledet said they’re determined.
“Hundreds of teachers have already reached out to us,” he said. “They want one of those framed photos. We need some sponsors to get it done.”
Labat also said if she had seen these photos as a child, she would have felt even more motivated to become a doctor.
“To see people that look like me on this photo would have been so substantial for me as a younger student,” she explained, “and that is the whole purpose.”
