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Structural Racism On Display In New Exhibition

WUNC News | By Laura Pellicer,
Frank Stasio
Published March 9, 2017 at 12:14 PM EST

Host Frank Stasio speaks with lawyer, environmentalist and filmmaker Danielle Purifoy, co-founder and President of the West End Revitalization Association Omega Wilson, and the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise Catherine Flowers to discuss how poor residents in certain communities are systematically disenfranchised from water and sanitation rights.

Lawyer and environmentalist DaniellePurifoyand artistTorkwaseDyson loaded up art supplies and media equipment in a mobile art studio and traveled to North Carolina and Alabama to meet people who live in the shadows of structural racism. The documentary project “In Conditions of Fresh Water” focuses on how residents of some communities inAlamanceCounty, North Carolina, andLowndesCounty, Alabama lack access to adequate sanitation infrastructure.

The work culminates in an exhibit on display at the Duke Center for Documentary Studies. Host Frank Stasio speaks with Purifoy, Dyson about the exhibit. He is also joined by Omega Wilson, the President and co-founder of West End Revitalization Association, and Catherine Flowers, the founder of the Alabama Center for Rural Enterprise to discuss how poor residents in certain communities are systematically disenfranchised from water and sanitation rights.  

"In Conditions of Fresh Water" on exhibit at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies.
/ Courtesy Danielle Purifoy
/
Courtesy Danielle Purifoy
"In Conditions of Fresh Water" on exhibit at Duke's Center for Documentary Studies.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio