Stronger Together

LaTarndra Strong is a Hillsborough activist, organizer, and educational leader. Her commitment to equity and her open-hearted kindness are the most remarkable and authentic qualities that I’ve had the privilege of getting to document through my project. When I began this semester, LaTarndra began a bid for a position on the Hillsborough school board. Over the course of the schoolyear, I followed her to various town halls, radio shows, and political events. But I also came with her to some of the most important moments of her year: adopting her daughter and giving the opening speech for the Bernie Sanders rally. What I learned from her about family, community, and progress were lessons that I found mirrored in my quarantine experience. Life is about dualities, and that was the beauty of what I took away.

My movie charts the disparate experiences of running for office and staying home in quarantine. I explore different facets of my daily life, like the isolation of neighborhood walks, the walls that have been put up in our playgrounds, and the moments of frustration and frivolity in quarantine. I explore this through the lens of my new, blended family. This is the first time we are spending this much time all under the same roof. These challenges and silver linings of social distancing are realities that we would have never believed would be true.