- Emerson fellow2020-present
Pandemic in the Heartland
Pandemic in the Heartland is a multi-media project that explores how the Covid-19 pandemic exhasturabted long-standing inequalities in California’s Central Valley, which produces one-fourth of the country’s produce and is home to some of the most vulnerable people in our country.
Serval counties were labeled hot spots during the pandemic bearing high rates of infection and deaths, disproportionally impacting essential, working-poor communities.
The region is best known for its $55-billion agriculture industry. Less known is that the goliath is propped-up by an underclass of low-wage essential workers, who face increasing rents, contaminated water, and economic uncertainty.
The project spans from late 2019 to the present day.
“If I pushed you away, if I failed you, it was from the fear created by my lies. You believed me and I became so good at pretending.”
letter from a husband to his wife a day before he died of COVID
with support from
The Emerson Collective, The Center for Cultural power, California arts council, The Academy of arts and sciences, The New York Times, CNN, and the central valley empowerment alliance
