Year :  2013

The Perspective : This painting is part of a collection of  works entitled “The Uncolored Series” Paintings about color without color. Each painting deals with a unique  issue in the stages of  African American life and culture.

Fifty years, Fifty moves… This is a well extended chess game. Although the king is the most important piece, it is usually the weakest piece in the game enters its latter phases, the endgame. The king in this chess game is analogous to Dr.King, though he was not weak by any means. His faith was his cornerstone, and thus his strength. It was his incredible faith in God that helped many to see and understand the Bible in a different light.  His ability to interpret the Bible to the masses; to show us its

social implications; and apply it to the conditions of a people, helped many to see how God’s plan for us would eventually rewrite our perception of a two hundred year sentence. Perhaps my math is off a bit, and we are still counting. Perhaps, one day a child holding on to the dream of success through hard work can stop counting. Perhaps this is still a dream for future generations, not entirely revealed in our lifetime.

This piece depicts a child clinging on to the dream that Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. articulated in his monumental “I Have A Dream” speech. The dream is that of a leveled plain, as referenced from Isaiah 40, verses 4 and 5:

“4 Every valley shall be exalted

And every mountain and hill brought low;

The crooked places shall be made straight

And the rough places smooth;

5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

And all flesh shall see it together;

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Narrative Points

1. A worn and aged bible shows how long we have held on to the dream.

2. The grasping of the chess piece symbolizes the belief in Dr. King’s message and dream.

3. The plowing of the field with the “40” hidden, shows how, despite unkept promises, we continue to work hard to survive in a land we helped to build.

4. The leveled plain with the shack juxtaposed to the White House represents how far a people have come. From the Slave House to the White House.

Giclée Reproductions