Living Together / Living Apart Media, American
Coal Blooded (film still), 2022
The captured image juxtaposes King Lincoln Park and the massive coal terminals located in the eastern end of Newport News, Virginia. At the forefront of the image, the viewer is presented with sprawling greenspace at King Lincoln Park, which appears orderly and subdued in comparison to the hulking piles of coal looming in the background. While the viewer could attempt to reconcile the piles of coal with the recreational space in the coal’s proximity, we have not yet considered who is using and living around this recreational space. As Coal Blooded notes, coal terminals in Newport News are placed in proximity to marginalized communities. Not only are their homes coated with coal dust, but Black and Brown individuals are inhaling the coal dust around their homes and in recreational spaces. And the placement of these coal terminals are no accident, deliberately determined by redlining, and the looming piles of coal in Newport News are not the only ones throughout the nation. Label by Eliza Madison