I draw on methodological findings from a case study on how high school students of color make sense of dominant narratives of race and politics in the Obama American Era. Incorporating literature from critical race theory, visual research methods, and the writings of cultural scholar Stuart Hall, I draw conclusions from this inquiry project as a means for offering a practical instantiation of critical race research through the use of visuals and a new avenue for considering Foucault's notion of parrhesia in qualitative inquiry.