When I first posted this work, unlike usual, I didn't post a caption with it because I was so distraught. This is a Black reimagining of Whistler's Mother, one of the most famous portraits of a woman. My father's family is from Lowell, MA, home to the Whistler House. Although I admire Whistler's technique, I never liked the rather monochrome painting or his mother's bland expression.

So I blackified it: vibrant colors over the monochrome, a fierce "the time is now" expression and hand gesture, and a little tribute to Malcolm X in the wall art. (Read his autobiography - it gives a much more complete picture of the man than pop culture.)

It's also kind of a play on the whistle-blower, because now if the time to expose, to share and to hopefully someday heal.