Selected for the Truth to Power 6 exhibit at Pleiades Gallery in 2018.

My goal was to submit an outrageously protective response to gun violence in schools, and my first idea was to construct bulletproof backpacks and clothes for children, but I quickly found out these already exist. Yes, you can buy bulletproof coats and bags to protect your children at school.

I put together another useful and absurd solution: a wall of sandbags around a child's desk.

The title "Peace. Love. Respect. For everybody!" comes from the late Chuck Davis, a wonderful dance teacher and inspiration to many. He made all of his students and audience members repeat this phrase during performances, and it's a perfect philosophy for dancing and living.

As Southern communities struggle with the history of racism and what to do with hurtful symbols, instead of removing a Confederate flag to catch up to now, I imagine a flag improved to look to the future, so I updated the North Carolina flag to include the stripes of the Rainbow Flag.

Can you imagine a North Carolina that welcomes everybody in all its counties? I can, and I hope we get there soon.