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This work was created early one morning, drawing from images originally assembled for an earlier montage. While revisiting that material, I was reading about the disappearance of the Black middle class as research for a larger photographic project. Around the same time, I encountered news of monuments connected to Black American history being removed. Paired with a piece of music, these moments converged.

The work reflects a shift in how time is experienced: once, yesterday felt accessible; now, acceleration collapses memory. Distraction becomes speed, and speed becomes erasure, like helicopter blades spinning until they appear to vanish.

The piece meditates on memory, history, and presence. Black culture has long functioned as the spine of America, sustaining its rhythm and imagination. This work is an appeal to recognize that power, to hold onto collective memory, and to move deliberately toward what we are called to become.

Editing: Irving Hillman

Music: Ludwig Göransson’s “Can You Hear the Music,”