The base garment is a thrifted jean jacket I wore for years but no longer fit. I added panels down the arms and along the torso to extend the size. I cut the pattern from fabric I bought during a trip to Ghana in 2018. I wanted to accentuate the original garment's vertical lines and highlight the print that looks like peacock feathers. Through cutting, pinning, ironing, and sewing, this garment went from a jacket that no longer fit me to a visual time capsule merging my past, present, and future.

I stand tall in my identities as a Black queer artist, wellness facilitator, and business owner. I am from the Southside of Chicago and come from people of African American descent and Jamaican heritage. These lineages converge in my birthplace in the USA. The denim, a staple of American fashion and culture, represents this base. From there, I inserted the side panels. The checkered pattern on the collar references a pattern found in traditional Jamaican clothing. The purple head wrap adds a stylistic touch that recalls the history of the tignon worn as a mandated public symbol of oppression and then reconstituted by black women to signify freedom of expression and beauty. Gold hoops for the everyday black girl. The plumage of the peacock feathers celebrates the vibrancy of the LGBTQIA+ community.

The mountains and desert landscape backdrop remind me and all who view this image that we are of nature.