Celebrating Black History Month
February Is Black History Month and we wanted to take some time to celebrate and thank these amazing historical black figures
It stands as one of the greatest speeches of all time, so I was feeling a little surprised when I realized I didn’t recognize the words as I started writing out this piece. At the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, it actually started out as a different speech...until Mahalia Jackson yelled out "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin!" He went on to scrap his original plan and improvised an impassioned version of a speech he had previously given at a church – the one we know today as the "I Have a Dream Speech"...and every word was handwritten to create an image of the famous Dr. King.
Aside from being the 44th president of the United States, he's also one of the greatest speakers of our lifetime, and an icon who had the rare ability to move and inspire a whole generation of people. For anyone who celebrated on the day of his inauguration and was deeply moved by the words of his first speech – this piece is for you. The image represents him looking over at the swaths of people who attended his inauguration and is handwritten with every word to his first inaugural address!
MUHAMMAD ALI
HANDWRITTEN WITH HIS FAMOUS QUOTES
He’s one of the most popular athletes of all time, a fighter for social change, and has a nickname entitled “The Greatest”. Plus, we’ve all heard tons of his quotes throughout our lifetimes...so that’s where I started while creating a word art to immortalize Muhammad Ali. I hand wrote Ali’s most famous quotes to recreate an image of him hitting Joe Frazier...and the area where Frazier stands is made up specifically of things Ali said about him (for example...“This might shock and amaze ya, but I’m going to destroy Joe Frazier”). I wanted to do this piece for anyone who was inspired by what Ali stood for - from being a true competitor to standing up for social change!!
JOHN LEWIS
HANDWRITTEN WITH NOTABLE SPEECHES
John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district. During the height of the Civil Rights Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was the Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for the sit-ins and other activities of students in the struggle for civil rights.
"I appeal to all of you to get into this great revolution that is sweeping this nation" - Congressman John Lewis, Rest in Peace (1940-2020)
COLIN POWELL
HANDWRITTEN WITH HIS 13 RULES OF LEADERSHIP
To honor Colin Powell's decorated military and political career, I hand wrote his 13 rules of leadership to create his image. Powell was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States secretary of state from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African-American secretary of state. Perfect for anyone who's a history buff like myself
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