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College Looks Like This: 7 Student Photographers, 7 Campuses

for @nytimes

I'm truly honored to have been apart of this piece. Thank you to my editor @genevievelizabeth and mentor @darcypadilla for trusting me to do right by the story.

Thank you to my family and village who continue to put up with my foolishness; I'm forever grateful.

Thank you @omaifirstwave for taking a chance on a weird black boy from the Westside of Chicago.

Thank you Divine 9, @theblkpwrcoalition and every person who've trusted my image making.

This is for the beautiful ones not yet born.

This is for the Black Folks surviving predominantly White institutions.

This is for the change makers, the builders, and those whose dreams conjure a new world for us all. Please check out the full piece, link in bio.

Much Love

prices went up 🤣💯

College Looks Like This: 7 Student Photographers, 7 Campuses

for @nytimes

I'm truly honored to have been apart of this piece. Thank you to my editor @genevievelizabeth and mentor @darcypadilla for trusting me to do right by the story.

Thank you to my family and village who continue to put up with my foolishness; I'm forever grateful.

Thank you @omaifirstwave for taking a chance on a weird black boy from the Westside of Chicago.

Thank you Divine 9, @theblkpwrcoalition and every person who've trusted my image making.

This is for the beautiful ones not yet born.

This is for the Black Folks surviving predominantly White institutions.

This is for the change makers, the builders, and those whose dreams conjure a new world for us all. Please check out the full piece, link in bio.

Much Love

prices went up 🤣💯

College Looks Like This: 7 Student Photographers, 7 Campuses

for @nytimes

I'm truly honored to have been apart of this piece. Thank you to my editor @genevievelizabeth and mentor @darcypadilla for trusting me to do right by the story.

Thank you to my family and village who continue to put up with my foolishness; I'm forever grateful.

Thank you @omaifirstwave for taking a chance on a weird black boy from the Westside of Chicago.

Thank you Divine 9, @theblkpwrcoalition and every person who've trusted my image making.

This is for the beautiful ones not yet born.

This is for the Black Folks surviving predominantly White institutions.

This is for the change makers, the builders, and those whose dreams conjure a new world for us all. Please check out the full piece, link in bio.

Much Love

prices went up 🤣💯

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

Blk Boy, you made it to your twenties. Keep on loving and struggle to love when it hurts most.

check your local newsstand.

A Peculiar Love Letter To Black Boys. This was my first public reading at @icp where I placed First in the PhotoSlam Family Album. I'd just come from @eddieadamsworkshop and was grappling with what I wanted to say as an artist. I was grappling with the meaning of community and vulnerability. Yet I wrote and annotated my words with photographs. This was my altar call.

another year, another blessing #24

another year, another blessing #24

"I don't care so much anymore about 'good photography'; I am gathering evidence for history." Gilles Peress.

Mason circa 2023

I think we ought to reintroduce ourselves.

I think we ought to reintroduce ourselves.

I think we ought to reintroduce ourselves.

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

AFFIRMATION - Assata Shakur
I believe in living .
I believe in the spectrum of Beta days and Gamma people .
I believe in sunshine .
In windmills and waterfalls , tricycles and rocking chairs . And i believe that seeds grow into sprouts . And sprouts grow into trees . I believe in the magic of the hands . And in the wisdom of the eyes . I believe in rain and tears . And in the blood of infinity .
I believe in life .
And i have seen the death parade march through the torso of the earth , sculpting mud bodies in its path . I have seen the destruction of the daylight , and seen bloodthirsty maggots prayed to and saluted .
I have seen the kind become the blind and the blind become the bind in one easy lesson . I have walked on cut glass . I have eaten crow and blunder bread and breathed the stench of indifference .
I have been locked by the lawless . Handcuffed by the haters .
Gagged by the greedy . And , if i know any thing at all , it's that a wall is just a wall and nothing more at all . It can be broken down .
I believe in living . I believe in birth . I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth .
And i believe that a lost ship , steered by tired , seasick sailors , can still be guided home to port .

Democratic Presidential Nominee VP Kamala Harris holds a campaign rally in Madison, Wisconsin.

"here, everybody wanna be black & is.
look — the forest is a flock of boys
who never got to grow up, blooming
into forever, afros like maple crowns
reaching sap-slow toward sky. watch
Forest run in the rain, branches
melting into paper-soft curls, duck
under the mountain for shelter. watch
the mountain reveal itself a boy.
watch Mountain & Forest playing
in the rain, watch the rain melt everything
into a boy with brown eyes & wet naps — 
the lake turns into a boy in the rain
the swamp — a boy in the rain
the fields of lavender — brothers
dancing between the storm." @danez_smif

"here, everybody wanna be black & is.
look — the forest is a flock of boys
who never got to grow up, blooming
into forever, afros like maple crowns
reaching sap-slow toward sky. watch
Forest run in the rain, branches
melting into paper-soft curls, duck
under the mountain for shelter. watch
the mountain reveal itself a boy.
watch Mountain & Forest playing
in the rain, watch the rain melt everything
into a boy with brown eyes & wet naps — 
the lake turns into a boy in the rain
the swamp — a boy in the rain
the fields of lavender — brothers
dancing between the storm." @danez_smif

"here, everybody wanna be black & is.
look — the forest is a flock of boys
who never got to grow up, blooming
into forever, afros like maple crowns
reaching sap-slow toward sky. watch
Forest run in the rain, branches
melting into paper-soft curls, duck
under the mountain for shelter. watch
the mountain reveal itself a boy.
watch Mountain & Forest playing
in the rain, watch the rain melt everything
into a boy with brown eyes & wet naps — 
the lake turns into a boy in the rain
the swamp — a boy in the rain
the fields of lavender — brothers
dancing between the storm." @danez_smif

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Cuba taught me patience and perseverance. It taught me lessons in drowning, survival, and commitment. Where does one go at the edge of empire? What rituals are necessary? Who will hold us in our undoing? Cuba taught me we are all we need, and in our most complex selves - we get free.

Photographers photographing each other.

Photographers photographing each other.