They are the blocks that built the city’s rhythm—shaping its culture through food, music, language, and love. What they gave was never transactional; it was an offering, rooted in pride and place, meant to anchor a city that was always changing. Today, the families who gave D.C. its soul are the ones being pushed to its margins.

In Shaw, one multigenerational family stands as a mirror to this transformation. Long settled in the neighborhood, they navigate the tension between memory and development, community and displacement. Their story is not isolated—it echoes the experiences of countless others who remain, resisting erasure. This project, created in collaboration with them, bears witness to their daily lives as they adapt, endure, and preserve what still belongs to them.

"We’re an average family trying to live through this whole situation, and we still try to be fly," the mother of this family, Reece, said. "We do. We still try to make sure we have our Uggs, our Jordans, and… and our North Faces on, but that shit hard... That shit hard."