13 Seconds

My father, Allen Richardson, is a survivor of the massacre by the National Guard at Kent State University on May 4th, 1970, which left 4 students dead and 9 injured. My dad has always said to me, “Your government will kill you,” which affected much of the way I think about political work and care. "13 Seconds" is a long-form collaborative investigation into learned trauma through family and an attempt to unpack a history of state violence pervasive far beyond Kent: such as the killing of 2 black students at Jackson State 11 days after Kent, and current movements towards abolition and against police brutality. How do we account for the pain and violence of the past, how does documentation fall short of truth in the case of Kent, as well as many cases before / after? A visual journey of parallel political movements through generations is woven, complete with points of connection and difference.

Recently exhibited at P74 Gallery in Slovenia as part of the group exhibition “Sorry, the Hardest Word?"