Sum of our Parts

Our mural represents the American Dream that we pursue as individuals and together as partners in life. Through perseverance, life experiences, overcoming obstacles and continued learning – we strive for peace and freedom to live as our authentic selves. We created a quilt that encompasses traditional American Folk and West African design. We chose to incorporate Adrinka symbols into our design because of Chris’ West African ancestry and Meg’s time spent in Ntonso, Ghana studying with traditional Adinkra craftspeople. Each patch on our quilt represents a milestone or important aspect of our lives that we consider to be in pursuit of our American Dream.

The power to love, forgive, learn, trust, and persevere are some of the hallmarks of our dream and reality (in its current form). Though it was never truly intended for all, We are two people, who at this country’s inception, were either not regarded as full citizens or even human beings. We live our lives every day in our American Dream. Nightmares/terrors be damned. We strive to make our lives more of what we want and hopefully imprint on those who come after us, an image of how they MAY live. Dream it, and may it be so.

Our journey to make an American Dream has taken us through different paths with varying hardships and gleaming successes that matured the people we sought to be and eventually led us to one another. We were both taught what the American Dream was, from lessons in school to conversations at home, with differences born from geographics and demographics. As adolescents we both came to find that we did not identify with an ideal that was befitting someone of our parents generation, rather aligning with that of a child born between ‘Peace & Love” and the glow of MTv. Our tenets are: we love each other, we respect others, we seek to improve everyday, and we show up!

Our American Dream does not require achievements and possessions, because we don’t believe in checking off boxes or expected milestones in life. We want to create our own path, on our own time.