The John Cardinal O’Connor Campus of The College of New Rochelle’s School of New Resources is featuring in the Gordon Parks Gallery, “WE THE PEOPLE: The Citizens of NYCHA in Pictures + Words” from Feb. 23, 2013 to May 5, 2013.
Over the course of 12 months, journalist Rico Washington and photographer Shino Yanagawa, collected stories and images through intimate interviews with former and current residents of New York City’s various housing projects. This exhibition includes several photographs, printed interview excerpts, and short-form essays.
Inspired by the documentarian works of Jacob Riis, Gordon Parks, Ruiko Yoshida, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Elvis Mitchell, Washington and Yanagawa explored the concept of second-class citizenship as applied to Blacks and Latinos residing in New York City’s Housing Authority sites in this project.
“WE THE PEOPLE” features interviews and photographs of such notable former NYCHA residents as author/ filmmaker/ cultural critic Nelson George, lauded photographer Jamel Shabazz, Young Lords co-founder/ original Last Poets member/ Emmy award-winning news reporter Felipe Luciano, venerable jazz musician/ recording artist Olu Dara, author/ Emmy award-winning filmmaker Dennis Watlington, Hip-Hop artist/ music industry CEO Buckshot, Hip-Hop icon Afrika Bambaataa, and many more.
The objective of “WE THE PEOPLE “is not to elicit pity or sympathy, according to the artists, “but to challenge popular thought concerning these neighborhoods. “WE THE PEOPLE” is a testament to those who have weathered the storms from urban blight to urban renewal. Through these collected stories, a genuine document of the marginalized and the maligned emerges.”
The John Cardinal O’Connor Campus is located at 332 East 149th St. in the Bronx, and the Gordon Parks Gallery is open on Fridays from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m.; Saturdays from 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. and by appointment or call (718)-665.1310.