"Living with the Memory" is a multi media documentary project that combines photographs, sound and text to tell the story of the impact of homicide in the African-American community in Oakland. Like a stone dropping into a pond, each death ripples throughout the community to touch dozens of lives.

In California in 2001, African-Americans were 102 times more likely to be the victims of homicide than whites, and three times more than Latino-Americans. While accounting for 6.7 percent of the population, African-Americans represented 28 percent of the state’s homicide victims.

80 to 90 percent of the city’s murder victims come from the 35 percent of the population that is African-American, a large number of whom live in neighborhoods where businesses are few and churches many, drug activity plentiful and makeshift memorials to the slain not uncommon.

The cornerstone of the project is a series of interviews with the mothers of homicide victims. Many of the mothers are helping raise fatherless children. Several have joined together to facilitate a support group for survivors. They also volunteer to work with teenage boys on probation hoping to teach the youth to make better choices. All of the mothers are concerned about the violence surrounding the drug activity on the streets. They don't want to see another mother suffer.