OUR LADY OF AMERICAN HISTORY is an ink on paper drawing of a black woman who represents American history. I am using the idea of Mary, the mother of Jesus, to make a point about the history of marginalized people in the United States, specifically African Americans. In Catholicism, Icons are images of holy people who represent a particular kind of holiness. I have created an Icon for Americans so that we may reflect on our history which includes a history full of injustices. In not recognizing the injustices of the past we can never fully understand our present. History gives us the means to understand why things are the way they are. Nothing that is good or bad stands alone—all of it runs deep within the generations that have built our country to what it is now—and that history includes All of us. We must accept the good, the bad, and the ugly of who we are so that we can move forward together.
