KKKRIPS

A cross-lighting ceremony that took place near Tupelo, Mississippi, in late March following a Ku Klux Klan rally in Memphis, Tennessee, that was organized to protest the renaming of three parks in the city built in honor of the Confederacy. It is a “cross lighting,” not “cross burning,” because these Klansmen “do not burn, but light the cross to signify that Christ is the light of the world.” Photo by Robert King.

In late March editor-in-chief of VICE Media Rocco Castoro and photographer/videographer Robert King traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, to cover an impending Ku Klux Klan rally over the changing of the name of a local park named after the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. As the rally approached, the local Grape Street Crips posted a YouTube video in which they announced that they would be in attendance at the rally alongside fellow rival gangs in a show. The resulting magazine feature story, “The Wizard of the Saddle Rides Again,” appeared in VICE US’s May Issue, and Triple Hate, the short film about the event and parties involved, recently premiered to rave reviews on VICE.com. For Berlin Fotofestival, Robert and Rocco have curated an exhibition of Robert’s photos entitled KKKRIPS, which will be on display alongside evening screenings of Triple Hate will be shown on the evening of June 14th, after which Rocco and Robert will discuss multimedia formats and strategies for photojournalists and publishers with Mischa Bruinvels (World Press Photo) and Wolf Böwig (Black.Light Project).

The article by Rocco  in full length on VICE.COM.