“TREATING EACH OTHER WITH RESPECT WOULD CHANGE A LOT. TREAT PEOPLE HOW YOU WANNA BE TREATED. YOU HAVE TO INFLUENCE THEM.”
(LUNA, 2020)
ONCE THEY GET ENGAGED IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS, THEY CAN… ULTIMATELY REALIZE THEIR OWN POWER AS A COLLECTIVE.
(JORDAN, 2020)
“THE POLITICAL ADS HERE ARE INSANE. THAT'S SOMETHING THAT BLEW MY MIND HOW AWFUL THEY TREAT EACH OTHER. I WISH PEOPLE WOULD TALK TO EACH OTHER MORE.”
(FLORA, 2020)
“LEARN HOW TO RESPECT AND LOVE YOURSELF BEFORE YOU PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE.”
(BREEZE, 2020)
DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING POLITICIANS TELL YOU. DO YOUR RESEARCH, TALK TO PEOPLE WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM YOU, AND HAVE DIFFERENT OPINIONS.
(CHARLIE, 2020)
THERE’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EVERYONE HERE. THAT’S THE POINT.
THIS IS AMERICA.
(KEINY, 2020)
(Photography by Bobby Banks)
“I JUST WANT TO SEE MORE YOUNGER PEOPLE TAKE LEADERSHIP BECAUSE THE FUTURE IS FOR YOUNGER PEOPLE.”
(TOMO, 2020)
"I WOULD LIKE IF THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF COLORS ON TV, IT'LL HELP BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL START TO OPEN THEIR EYES, HELP THEM SEE THAT THE WHOLE WORLD DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THE SAME."
(VELYN, 2020)
I HOPE SHE DOESN’T LOSE THE SPARK, THIS FIERCENESS THAT SHE HAS; I HOPE WHEN SHE GETS OLDER, I HAVE DONE A GOOD ENOUGH JOB TEACHING HER TO BELIEVE IN HERSELF AND SEE HER WORTH, THAT EVEN WHEN SHE FACES ADVERSITIES, AND THE WORLD KEEPS SAYING “NO”, SHE HAS THE STRENGTH TO FORGE ON.
(EYJA, 2020)
"ADULTS COULD LEARN A LOT FROM HOW MY FRIENDS AND I PLAY VIDEO GAMES. WE TEAM UP BECAUSE IT’S MORE FUN WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER - AND YOU HAVE TO PLAY FAIR."
(BRANDON, 2020)
TRYING TO NAVIGATE CONVERSATIONS THAT REPRESENT HER - THAT’S USUALLY THE AVENUE THAT I TAKE. (MORGAN, 2020)
“WE, FOR TOO LONG, HAVE BEEN TRYING TO ACCOMMODATE PEOPLE, AND THAT'S NOT A WAY TO LIVE. YOU GOTTA SPEAK YOUR TRUTH AND BE YOURSELF, EVEN IF IT MAKES OTHER PEOPLE UNCOMFORTABLE.”
(NAOMI, 2020)
WE HEAR YOU
START WHERE YOU ARE. USE WHAT YOU HAVE. DO WHAT YOU CAN. (ARTHUR ASHE)
Challenged by the events of 2020 and guided by Arthur Ashe’s words, The Custom Family and Smashbox Studios teamed up to create an audio-portrait series in support of people from communities of color, who often struggle to be heard. With little more than a camera, a microphone, and an applebox, WE HEAR YOU uses our respective platforms to amplify the voices of our neighbors, raising them up on a ‘soapbox’ (the applebox) to be more clearly seen and heard.
WE HEAR YOU is the work of photographers: BOBBY BANKS, VANESSA CHARLOT, FLORA HANITIJO, ITAYSHA JORDAN, JAI LENNARD, SARAI MARI, MELODIE MCDANIEL, JAIMIE MILNER, XAVIER MUNIZ, ANDRE L PERRY, JESSICA PETTWAY and EVA WOOLRIDGE, director / interviewer ELIZABETH GRAY BAYNE , producer / interviewer DEANNA ARCHER, editor TIFFANY IZZIE CHANG and creative director / producer, LARRY MCCRUDDEN.