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Who Gets to Live in Peace? - spoken word video

November 11, 2006

The spoken word and photographs below were created after driving around with a unit of the Police Department in Durham, NC as part of an "American Communities" documentary photography class at Duke University in 1999. Thank you to the Durham Police Department and the citizens of Durham for allowing me into your world.  The streets at the edge of the law are a rough place to be, and I respect all those who find themselves living or working there.



who gets to live in peace

I grew up in the Jersey suburbs,
never really liked cops
fat white men yelling "stop!!!"
But Durham is such a different place,
The law is enforced by good people on both sides
of this static, subtle civil war of twisted words,
statistics blurred... into focus.

what is the punishment for being poor?
how does it feel to be watched?
"hey, slow down" - children playing...
tough, like that police man
with those white lights shot into the home of
a possible criminal, friend of a dealer,
mother of children, on the other side
where confusion and fear glow through false appearance

in quick moving worlds of power and risk,
I ask, who gets to live in peace?



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Posted by Colin at November 11, 2006 9:50 PM

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