ou, the Turk, the Arab, the Swede, the German, the Eskimo, the Scot,

You the Ashanti, the Yoruba, the Kru, bought,

Sold, stolen, arriving on the nightmare

Praying for a dream.

Here, root yourselves beside me.

I am that Tree planted by the River,

Which will not be moved.

– From Maya Angelou’s poem “On the Pulse of Morning” (spoken at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton on January 20, 1993)

In these challenging times, “We Shall Not Be Moved” echoes the sentiments of the iconic Black American protest anthem rooted in Negro spirituals. I desired this exhibition to walk humbly in the footsteps of Maya Angelou, John Coltrane, Alvin Ailey, Faith Ringgold and countless others who have utilized artistic expression to speak Black creative truth to destructive systemic power. The staff of Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art and myself spent many hours perusing images and discussing ideas to select a carefully curated body of work that, like trees planted by the waters, is cultivated from my personal commitment to expressing that creative truth.

As Black narratives not in alignment with the current rewriting of American history are being removed from federal spaces under direct order of our current administration, I believe that it is of timely importance to fearlessly share these narratives in the spaces we still have left. In the words of famed actor Michael B. Jordan, “When they erase, we replace.”

Each work in this exhibition, from scenes derived from iconic Black films to reimagined Art in America magazine covers to paintings inspired by the many stray dogs in the urban neighborhood I grew up in and currently reside in, speak to the Black experience as I see it.

The Black experience is not monolithic and neither are the works in this exhibition. From the colorful to the monochromatic and from the fringes of abstraction to neo-expressionist figurativism, these works reflect Blackness as I have experienced it…like a tree planted by the waters of resilience, its roots absorbing courage and hope, its leaves capturing the warm rays of faith and love, and the branches of its undying trust in the dream of humanity and justice for all continually reaching towards the endless sky.

This tree of Blackness will continually bear fruit.

It will not wither.

And whatsoever it doeth, will prosper.

-Harold Smith

Jan 31, 2026.