...they Remain the Same, 2021, inkjet print

...they Remain the Same confronts the brutal reality that the systems sustaining racial violence have simply evolved, not disappeared. Drawing on the adage “the more things change, the more they remain the same,” this work links the historic abuse of Black slaves to the present-day realities of anti-Black racism.

A chalkboard and a chalk rendering of a slave master anchor the piece. This shows how symbols of history is repeatedly taught yet rarely absorbed in ways that dismantle the structures it exposes. The figure of the slave master stands in for the enduring institutions that legitimize racial hierarchies and protect them under the guise of progress.

The photographs also focuses on the psychic aftermath: close-ups of scars marked by racial slurs. These wounds, both historical and contemporary, speak to the violence carved into Black bodies and minds. The illegible text behind the scars captures the mental fragmentation inflicted by living with generational trauma and daily discrimination.

By pairing recognizable historical imagery with present-day realities, ...they Remain the Same makes clear that racism is not a relic but a living wound. This work demands that viewers confront how easily oppression mutates, while its devastating impact on Black communities remains the same.