As a lover of knowledge past and present, a train ride into NYC allowed me with ample time to read the letters Martin Luther King Jr. wrote on April 16, 1963 while incarcerated in the Birmingham, Alabama city jail.

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The painting is a clear result of the impact those letters had on my soul. Absorbing the energy of those times and pain produced a sketch that lead into a painting weeks later. I understood the history of the movement, but I was too far detached and needed to dwell into the time period once more and soak in raw emotions from photographs, footages, and writings.