Allison Janae Hamilton, American, born 1984
The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm, 2018
Influenced by her ties to Kentucky, Florida, and Tennessee, Hamilton’s work frequently examines environmental justice issues, particularly in the rural American south. The peo-ple cried mer-cy in the storm takes its title from and was inspired by ‘Florida Storm,’ a 1928 hymn by Judge Jackson about the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926. Along with the Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, both storms devastated the state of Florida and were particularly disastrous to communities of black migrant workers. The piece, which continually interacts with its environment, contemplates how social inequities become evident in climate-related disasters, and further, how these communities are doubly affected. Label by Laura Reitze