Tina Cordova, American
I Got Cancer Living Downwind of Trinity, 2023
This sign was created and held in protest by a New Mexico resident named Tina Cordova, founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, an organization raising awareness about victims of the 1945 Trinity Test, in which the United States military exploded the first atomic bomb in preparation for the use of this destructive new technology on Japan during World War II. The test released plumes of radioactive toxins and ash – among them 10 pounds of plutonium – which began diffusing into the atmosphere and landing in the surrounding area that 13,000 called home. The radiation in the area was 10,000 times what the CDC claims currently safe and allowable in public, and yet these unsuspecting victims received no warning or compensation for their tragic involvement in this event. This careless wartime experiment ravaged the environment and the health of its residents irreparably, even generations later. Label by Jackson Schiminger