My priority is Blackness.

Not a dollar.
Not followers.
Not collaborations.

It feels trite to post but I think it’s necessary as more people join the ride via social media.
I stand on the shoulders of Faith Ringgold, Romare Bearden, Gordon Parks, Bisa Butler, Jacob Lawrence, Margaret Burroughs, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kara Walker, Fulani peoples, the women who made dolls for their children out of produce in the fields where their soul sang of a freedom their body didn’t yet know, the ones whose names will never be in a history book, the artisans who built the White House, the sculptors of American society, the artists whose art wasn’t considered art.

I’m a descendant of grandparents Earl Dean and JC (paternal) and Elsie and Marshall (maternal). My parents are Fernell and Brenda. Little brother to Cassandra and Katrina. Husband to Kari.

Raised in The Camp of Grove Hill, Alabama.
Forever member of First Baptist Church of Whatley.
My middle school was the former Black-only school in my town.
I grew up around the vestiges of violence which tried to destroy my people.

And now I get to create beauty as my job. My grandparents would be proud. My great- and great-great-grandparents would be amazed at the world in which I live and the community which I’ve been blessed to build here in Chicago.

Like it says on my website… “My priority in life and this business is to encourage human flourishing while understanding that cannot happen without Black freedom.”

Thank y’all for joining me on the ride!