Out The E

Out the E is a photographic project based in the rural town of Elaine, Arkansas.

There are people in this town who do not want to remember what happened, rightfully so. And there are people who believe the massacre is fake news. The racial divide is as strong as ever in Elaine, Arkansas, creating a culture of silence and negligence in a community of about 500 people that has yet to truly heal.

Law and way of life operate differently in this region and Elaine does not have enough resources for its residents. Since the town’s school district closed in 2005, sustaining a place for Black children was never a priority for the city council. When starting this project in 2020, children in Elaine had been attending school in a town about an hour away twice a week due to COVID-19. A majority of the children had never heard of the tragedy that occurred there. They did not, at the time, understand the levels of inequity in their lives such as why their mayor was never elected or why the memorial resides in Helena, the county seat, and not Elaine. Arkansas public schools fail to teach students about the Elaine massacre, the aftermath of which, continues to split and regulate this community.

In 1919, as cotton prices skyrocketed, Black sharecroppers, trapped in a vortex of credit and debt and underpaid for their crops, began to organize to receive fair payment. On September 30, a meeting of farmers was disrupted by several white men, killing one. Hours later, spurred on by a “Black insurrection”, a white mob—including federal troops—descended on the area. Two days later more than 500 Black people were killed in what is considered to be the deadliest racial conflict in the U.S.

Today, residents of Elaine are still living within a similar endless cycle. Having a taxable job forces you to lose government assistance -- and government assistance prevents you from getting above the poverty line. The only employment opportunities in Elaine are a few local businesses and working on soybean farms, and the farming jobs tend to be offered exclusively to white people. To make money or discover opportunities you have to leave.

I was slowly allowed into this community by photographing alongside the children and returning with prints to give to families. While I am working with film, my digital camera gets passed around and the children make their own images. Over the years, this casual exchange evolved into summer photography camps at the Elaine Legacy Center, the former elementary school. Giving these kids the tools and agency to represent themselves can hopefully empower them and possibly enhance how Elaine exists to them.

As more Americans are grappling with the country’s history of extracting wealth and resources from Black communities, this work is necessary to place attention on a town and community that has long been forgotten. By building a social practice that relies on collaboration and building trust, my work aims to reflect the intimacy and issues of a community that never left.