The story behind my final project for MEJO 180: Foundations in Photojournalism:

As I was walking to class one day in November of last semester, I noticed an American Indian Heritage Month flyer with several events listed on it. I was surprised to see this because I had heard of Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, but it was my first time hearing of American Indian Heritage Month. What was even more shocking to me was that it was my first time hearing about it despite having lived in America my entire life. This happened during the time I was trying to come up with an idea for my MEJO 180 final photo story. From that point on, I continued to realize how little I knew about modern-day Native American lives and became increasingly curious about how the original people of this land became so invisible. After visiting UNC’s American Indian Center, I was connected with Danny Bell.

I had heard all about Danny’s contributions to the UNC and American Indian communities, but after meeting him and seeing his schedule I understood just how true it was. While I really enjoyed working with Danny, I was also having trouble putting the story together. Danny was a member of several committees and constantly enriched himself by going to lectures and other events, but how did all this connect? A photo story is supposed to have a storyline to it, and I didn’t know what kind of story a bunch of pictures of Danny sitting and speaking to people at events would tell.

It was actually after that day Danny met with Professor Villamil (in photo 2), that I had my epiphany. Hearing them talk about how invisible they felt as American Indians and seeing their efforts to enrich and represent their communities made me understand that Danny being such an active person was countering that “invisibility.” From that point on, that became the story I tried to tell.