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Topeka Bottoms (Trailer)
03:19 min//Documentary, 2022. 

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Reclaiming Home: Remembering the Topeka Bottoms will recover the stories of Black and Brown communities in Topeka who were displaced through urban renewal practices of the 1950s. 
 
The project use oral histories, community mapping and workshops to film a one-hour documentary, and also a community-based art exhibition recreating personal stories and the neighborhood.
 
This local story, literally in our own backyard, resonates during a time of national violence against Black and Brown communities nationwide. The goal is to foster racial equity and social justice through a combination of research, dialogue and action. 

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Director: Maria Velasco
Co-Director: Matthew Jacobson
Historian:  Donna Rae Pearson, Valerie Mendoza
Editor: Vichie Hou
Cinematographer: Matthew Jacobson, Vichie Hou