1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,223 Along the ancient path of the Monongahela River, 2 00:00:05,223 --> 00:00:10,981 Braddock, Pennsylvania sits in the eastern region of Allegheny County, 3 00:00:10,981 --> 00:00:15,348 approximately nine miles outside of Pittsburgh. 4 00:00:16,488 --> 00:00:18,829 An industrial suburb, 5 00:00:18,829 --> 00:00:22,570 Braddock is home to Andrew Carnegie's first steel mill, 6 00:00:22,570 --> 00:00:24,238 the Edgar Thomson Works. 7 00:00:25,008 --> 00:00:27,560 Operating since 1875, 8 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:32,738 it is the last functioning steel mill in the region. 9 00:00:33,390 --> 00:00:38,101 For 12 years, I have produced collaborative portraits, 10 00:00:38,101 --> 00:00:42,373 still lifes, landscapes and aerial views 11 00:00:42,373 --> 00:00:47,724 in order to build a visual archive to address the intersection 12 00:00:47,724 --> 00:00:49,571 of the steel industry, 13 00:00:49,571 --> 00:00:51,429 the environment, 14 00:00:51,429 --> 00:00:58,071 and the health care system's impact on the bodies of my family and community. 15 00:00:59,277 --> 00:01:02,644 The tradition and grand narrative of Braddock 16 00:01:02,644 --> 00:01:08,439 is mostly comprised of stories of industrialists and trade unions. 17 00:01:08,727 --> 00:01:13,027 Currently, the new narrative about Braddock, 18 00:01:13,027 --> 00:01:16,564 a poster child for Rust Belt revitalization, 19 00:01:16,564 --> 00:01:21,548 is a story of urban pioneers discovering a new frontier. 20 00:01:22,744 --> 00:01:28,131 Mass media has omitted the fact that Braddock is predominantly black. 21 00:01:29,066 --> 00:01:34,640 Our existence has been co-opted, silenced and erased. 22 00:01:35,731 --> 00:01:39,967 Fourth generation in a lineage of women, 23 00:01:39,967 --> 00:01:44,657 I was raised under the protection and care of Grandma Ruby, 24 00:01:44,657 --> 00:01:49,032 off 8th Street at 805 Washington Avenue. 25 00:01:49,562 --> 00:01:54,120 She worked as a manager for Goodwill. 26 00:01:55,020 --> 00:01:56,814 Mom was a nurse's aid. 27 00:01:56,814 --> 00:02:03,161 She watched the steel mills close and white flight to suburban developments. 28 00:02:04,708 --> 00:02:07,332 By the time my generation walked the streets, 29 00:02:07,332 --> 00:02:12,586 disinvestment at the local, state and federal level, 30 00:02:12,586 --> 00:02:14,483 eroded infrastructure, 31 00:02:14,483 --> 00:02:20,764 and the War on Drugs dismantled my family and community. 32 00:02:21,890 --> 00:02:24,305 Grandma Ruby's stepfather Gramps 33 00:02:24,305 --> 00:02:28,994 was one of few black men to retire from Carnegie's mill with his pension. 34 00:02:28,994 --> 00:02:31,201 He worked in high temperatures, 35 00:02:31,201 --> 00:02:36,930 tearing down and rebuilding furnaces, cleaning up spilt metal and slag. 36 00:02:37,586 --> 00:02:44,039 The history of a place is written on the body and the landscape. 37 00:02:45,766 --> 00:02:48,244 Areas of heavy truck traffic, 38 00:02:48,244 --> 00:02:52,609 exposure to benzene and atomized metals, 39 00:02:52,609 --> 00:02:55,742 risk cancer and lupus. 40 00:02:58,390 --> 00:03:03,847 One hundred twenty-three licensed beds, 652 employees, 41 00:03:03,847 --> 00:03:08,349 rehabilitation programs decimated. 42 00:03:11,486 --> 00:03:15,363 A housing discrimination lawsuit against Allegheny County 43 00:03:15,363 --> 00:03:21,215 removed where the projects Talbot Towers once stood. 44 00:03:21,215 --> 00:03:26,957 Recent rezoning for more light industry has since appeared. 45 00:03:27,568 --> 00:03:33,595 Google Maps and Google Earth pixelations conceal the flammable waste 46 00:03:33,595 --> 00:03:38,890 being used to squeeze the Bunn family off their home and land. 47 00:03:41,529 --> 00:03:45,545 In 2013, I chartered a helicopter 48 00:03:45,545 --> 00:03:51,101 with my cameras to document this aggressive dispossession. 49 00:03:53,371 --> 00:03:58,252 In flight, my observation reveals thousands of plastic white bundles 50 00:03:58,252 --> 00:04:01,728 owned by a conservation industry 51 00:04:01,728 --> 00:04:03,981 that claims it's eco-friendly 52 00:04:03,981 --> 00:04:06,697 and recycles millions of tires 53 00:04:06,697 --> 00:04:09,484 to preserve people's lives 54 00:04:09,484 --> 00:04:12,560 and to improve people's lives. 55 00:04:13,500 --> 00:04:18,461 My work spirals from the micro to the macro level, 56 00:04:18,461 --> 00:04:21,688 excavating hidden histories. 57 00:04:21,688 --> 00:04:24,196 Recently, at the Seattle Art Museum, 58 00:04:24,196 --> 00:04:28,166 Isaac Bunn and I mounted this exhibition, 59 00:04:28,166 --> 00:04:34,133 and the exhibition was used as a platform to launch his voice. 60 00:04:34,133 --> 00:04:37,820 Through reclamation of our narrative, 61 00:04:37,820 --> 00:04:43,319 we will continue to fight historic erasure and socioeconomic inequality. 62 00:04:44,179 --> 00:04:46,370 Thank you. 63 00:04:46,370 --> 00:04:50,400 (Applause)