Before Davidson took an interest in Harlem, many civil rights movements/ protests happened inside the city limits. Throughout the '60s, riots became an annual occurrence, with many activists being arrested or injured during the riots. The riots came about due to the lack of proper housing, schooling, and job opportunities. Many groups came about during the '60s, advocating for change and new policies. Some were peaceful, and other groups such as the Black Panthers advocated for the use of violence in pursuit of change. The Black Panthers organized in Harlem in 1966, the same year Bruce Davidson started photographing life in Harlem in an attempt for change and reformation to come about in the city. Quite often, Boycotts to walk out of schools would happen, hoping to instill change into the school system of Harlem. More often than not, protests in Harlem became riots. The media doesn't take too well any type of violent protest, even if it started out as peaceful. Here we see the installment of "visual sociology", the idea of taking pictures to convey a message rather than trying to explain it through an essay, let alone protest, and become bombarded with a million sides of media coverage.  Pictures are both harder and easier to read, one could make their own interpretation or feel as though the image isn't giving them enough to work with to draw any type of conclusion.