My desire to make a worthy statement about this historic event required me to examine a number of narratives that could be translated into visuals—images having to do with Obama’s personal history; the trajectory of the Civil Rights struggle and pictorial dialogues with my parents and other elders of my family who unfortunately didn’t live to see a Black man become President. I decided to distill all considered down to basics: a sturdy platform underneath, silver hair representing wisdom, and stars representing eternal, illuminating light on a deep, rich skin and the blue of the sky.”