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Nissan LEAF: Gas Powered Everything (by nissanusa)

The video, titled “The Last Word,” is sponsored by the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority, a Florida agency financed by roadway tolls.

The somber video, while long at more than three minutes, is different from some of the shock-and-awe campaigns against distracted driving that show bloody accidents. Also interesting, and a bit unusual about the video, is that it works even though the message is subtle, even unstated.

Produced by People Opposing Women Abuse (or POWA), the experimental new video begins with a scene showing a young musician practicing on a drum set while at home in a Johannesburg apartment complex. Within minutes, miffed neighbors arrive at the man’s doorstep and hand him a written warning for creating the noise. Later, a recording of a violent domestic dispute — complete with sounds of glasses smashing and a woman’s screams — plays at maximum volume, yet none of the neighbors respond. The clip concludes with a stark message: “Every year 1,400 women are killed by their partners.”

Aaron Huey’s effort to photograph poverty in America led him to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where the struggle of the native Lakota people — appalling, and largely ignored — compelled him to refocus. Five years of work later, his haunting photos intertwine with a shocking history lesson in this bold, courageous talk from TEDxDU.