In 1925, Dr. Carter G. Woodson planned the inaugural week-long observance of Black history, an idea sparked by his belief that teaching Black history was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of Black people within broader society. He said, "If a race has no history, it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated." Little did he know that this week-long observance would evolve into a national reckoning, one we're still fighting to protect.

I wake up… I look around, and I see my bedroom wall covered in moments I captured. It was 2022 when I first started taking these images consciously. Four years have passed. Now, when I look at the original pictures, it feels like poetry. My mind reminds my body how I felt. Alone… I wish I could've told Omar (me) that it would be okay. That these moments captured would evolve into a greater art, and that my loneliness would only lead me closer to understanding the self, the art. Closer to the child I was. Denim became the language between us — through this practice, I revisit the novelty of childhood.