Not man, not woman. Black and white and everywhere in between. This piece is the largest work I have created to date. I am currently abroad and when people find out, I am an American they only ever want to talk about one topic, American politics. I have been living in Scotland for a few months now and have been blissfully ignorant of the division that exists back in the states. Being away from America has also given me insight into the aspects of American culture that make it such a unique and beautiful country. America triumphs many other countries in diversity. This can be American's greatest strength, and yet we are making it our greatest weakness. We have let our country be divided by hate. I blame this on stupidity — any intelligent person judges on character and character alone. The two people in the painting are very different. But they are certain. Adding the second canvas to this piece was necessary. They needed to stand tall. They needed to appear larger than life, and when freedom is threatened, there is no greater power than one country standing together for the freedom of all. I wanted these two people to represent the potential future of our country. I also had my friend Tierra Wilkie in mind when planning out this piece. She is strong and independent and speaks often on behalf of justice and freedom. She spoke to me about a book she wanted to write to give the majority insight on what it is like to be a minority. Even if we cannot fully understand the impact of the barriers we were never given, we can understand how critical unity and acceptance is when building a sturdy nation. We can understand people are people. I am part of the last generation that remembers 9/11. We are the kids that can still remember a world without iPhones and social media. And we are the generation that will put an end to prejudices and racism. We have witnessed the legalization of love in all forms, and we have started the "Black Lives Matter" movement to help the healing process of America's deepest scars. We are the generation that has sat in the passager's seat while older generations let hate win. With each generation, ignorance is dying. One day, these kids will raise kids to accept all people in all forms. These kids will choose a nation of unity over a nation of division. And one day, we will be raising a generation who will only learn about prejudices and racism in history books. When someone from this generation is in office, America might be great for the first time. A country can all only be great when all are free. The shades of red and blue in this two-part painting stand for the same things as the American flag: red, hardiness and valor, and blue being vigilance, perseverance, and justice.