9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Along the ancient path[br]of the Monongahela River, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Braddock, Pennsylvania, sits[br]in the eastern region of Allegheny County, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 approximately nine miles[br]outside of Pittsburgh. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 An industrial suburb, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Braddock is home[br]to Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the Edgar Thomson Works. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Operating since 1875, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 it is the last functioning steel mill 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in the region. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 For 12 years, I have produced[br]collaborative portraits, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 still lives, landscapes, and aerial views 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in order to build a visual archive 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to address the intersection 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of the steel industry, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 the envirnoment, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the health care system's impact 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on the bodies of my family and community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The tradition and grand[br]narrative of Braddock 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is mostly comprised of stories 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of industrialists and trade unions. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Currently, the new narrative[br]about Braddock, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 a poster child for Rust Belt[br]revitalization, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 is a story of urban pioneers 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 discovering a new frontier. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Mass media has omitted the fact 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that Braddock is predominantly black. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Our existence has been co-opted, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 silenced, and erased. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Fourth generation 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 in a lineage of women, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 I was raised under the protection and care 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 of Grandma Ruby, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 off 8th Street 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 at 805 Washington Avenue. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She worked as a manager for Goodwill. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Mom was a nurse's aid. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 She watched the steel mills close 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and white flight to suburban developments. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 By the time my generation[br]walked the streets, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 disinvestment at the local, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 state, and federal level 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 eroded infrastructure, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the War on Drugs 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 dismantled my family and community. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Grandma Ruby's stepfather Gramps 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 was one of a few black men to retire[br]from Carnegie's mill with his pension. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 He worked in high temperatures, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 tearing down and rebuilding furnaces, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 cleaning up spilt metal and slag. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 The history of a place is written 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 on the body and the landscape. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Areas of heavy truck traffic, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 exposure to benzene and atomized metals, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 risk cancer and lupus. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 123 licensed beds, 652 employees: 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 rehabilitation programs, decimated. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 A housing discrimination lawsuit[br]against Allegheny County 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 removed where the projects[br][????] towers once stood. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Recent rezoning for more light industry 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 has since appeared. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Google Maps and Google Earth pixellations 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 conceal the flammable waste 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 being used to squeeze the Bunn Family[br]off their home and land. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In 2013, I chartered a helicopter 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 with my cameras to document 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 this aggressive dispossession. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 In flight, my observation reveals 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 thousands of plastic white bundles 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 owned by a conservation industry 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 that claims it's eco-friendly 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and recycles millions of tires 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to preserve people's lives 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and to improve people's lives. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 My work spirals from the micro 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 to the macro level, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 excavating hidden histories. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Recently, at the Seattle Art Museum, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Isaac Bunn and I mounted this exhibition, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and the exhibition was used[br]as a platform to launch his voice. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Through reclamation of our narrative, 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 we will continue to fight historic erasure 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 and socioeconomic inequality. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 Thank you. 9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000 (Applause)