Completion Date: (Aug 18th)
Location: 1100 Hull Street
Richmond, VA 23224

Lead Photographer: Brenda Soque | Assistant Photographer: Katrina Taggart-Hecksher

This mural represents a narrative that gives voice and homage to the most disenfranchised segment of American society: the young African-American woman.
In this painting, we use artistic elements of composition, depth of field, bold color, and symbolism to tell a story of self-determination, inspiration and empowerment. The 12 year old black girl in the center of this painting represents the present and the future. She is fully rendered to give vision to the stark realities of our historical and current socio-political landscape. Her backpack signifies her quest for knowledge through schooling, and her headband in the colors of the Pan-African flag represents her cultural awareness.

As early as 1914, a clenched fist was described by ​Mother Earth​ magazine as “symbolical of the social revolution.” In the 1960’s it was used by The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Power Movement to fight for civil rights. In the 1970’s it was a symbol of the Women’s Liberation Movement and graced the covers of anthologies on feminism. In this mural, the girl’s raised fist represents all three: social revolution, black empowerment and feminism. She is holding something that represents her heritage: a portrait of a young Maggie L. Walker, a remarkable woman who championed black economic empowerment and self determination. She was a Richmonder who rose up from extreme poverty and the recent aftermath of slavery in America to form the world’s first bank founded by a black woman.

Our young heroine stands in a plowed field representing the past and the oppressive toil of her enslaved African ancestors in the midst of a dethroned Robert E. Lee monument, shrinking and faded behind her as insignificant.

The large sun represents enlightenment and shared humanity and is inlaid with the golden African Adinkra symbol “Gye Nyame” which is a symbol for fearing nothing under the sun and the omnipresence of God.

The flowers in her foreground are a bold statement of optimism for the future and the bounty of the natural world. Daisy’s were chosen as a prominent flower because of their ties to feminine power and beauty, and the snapdragons represent passion and strength. Together, these symbols speak of the journey to the future, and an ode to the imagination of the young. The starship Enterprise soars high overhead on a journey to boldly go where no ​woman ​has gone…before.