Thank You for Allowing Us To Speak

In Thank You for Allowing Us To Speak, youth pedestrian activists Nitya Jaiswal (13) and Radha Patel (18) - supported by Auckland-based urban strategist, Boopsie Maran - describe images from their parallel traffic safety campaigns. Across Auckland, families feel the streets students must use between their home and the school gate are growing to be more hostile than ever before. Particularly, in the city centre, their environment lacks shade and safe separation from car traffic, and often includes crossing the entrance to a motorway. While the kids themselves understand that walking and using active modes is a sustainable route, they just wish their streets were made safer by adult drivers, often the ones speeding to work.This photo essay highlights the inherent challenges faced by students on and off the streets—whether at a traffic circle or at local board offices sitting opposite elected members. Through captions and selected images, Jaiwal and Patel speak frankly to their intended adult audience and detail in their own words the “consequences, for [those] of you who are wondering.”

Interdisciplinary Cultural and Social Studies · New Zealand Economic and Social Studies · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology