This video, captured during the Community Wish Tree Cleanup Event in March 2024, offers a sweeping look at the ecotone of Hanlon Park Playground, Woods, and Wash Water Lake Stream—a space where nature, community, and restoration efforts intersect. The footage begins with a pan to the left, revealing a person bending down to collect litter, with a pile of trash nearby—evidence of both the environmental challenges and the ongoing work to reclaim the space. As the camera continues left, the stream water emerges behind fallen trees, their tangled branches trapping scattered debris. The video then zooms in on another volunteer across the way, wearing a hoodie and highlighter vest, actively cleaning with a black trash bag in hand, reinforcing the collective action at the heart of this event.

This video offers a 360-degree view of the Community Wish Tree, an interactive public art installation designed as a shared space for intention and reflection. As the camera moves around the tree, viewers take in the full scope of its presence—its trunk wrapped with handwritten wishes, dreams, and heartfelt affirmations from the local community. Though individual messages are not legible, the collective gesture of their placement forms a woven expression of shared vision, care, play, and joy. The Wish Tree stands as a living symbol of strength, connection, and collective storytelling. Without leaves or branches adorned, the focus remains on the rooted presence of the tree itself—a testament to intention, growth, and the power of shared expression.

This video captures a moment of collaborative performance as I embody Sister Stream Catcher, moving in harmony with others to bring the Water Goddess to life. As we process down the street during a public art unveiling in Remington, Baltimore, the towering puppet sways with the rhythm of our synchronized movements, its flowing form controlled by sticks guiding her through the air. A group follows behind, moving in solidarity, amplifying the presence of the Water Goddess as a symbol of water justice and environmental care. At the front, the leader’s **drumming and call-and-response chant—"Clean water, fresh water, everybody deserves"—**set the cadence for our steps, transforming the procession into a living ritual of activism and communal storytelling.

As Sister Stream Catcher, I contributed to the Global Waters Dance event in multiple ways. For this portion, I created a crocheted yarn rope, which I arranged in a labyrinth design on the floor. Participants wrote reflections and messages related to the event’s theme of water on hand-painted paper tears, attaching them to the labyrinth. They then walked the pathway in silence, bringing an offering to the center. Earlier in the event, I also participated in the Water Goddess Procession, embodying the spirit of water, its connection to care and renewal. This photo captures the scene during the labyrinth activity, showcasing the collective engagement, ritual and movement of the gathering.

In May 2023, I had the honor of MCing Poetry in the Park, a community-focused event hosted by Baltimore Green Space at the Victorine Q. Adams Memorial Garden. The evening featured a fusion of poetry and jazz, with myself and three other poets sharing original works accompanied by live music. The event celebrated creativity, community, and green spaces, offering free food to attendees and an open mic for local voices to share their talents. This gathering fostered connection, inspiration, and the joy of artistic expression in a cherished community garden.

During the Autumn Equinox Event with Meeting Ground Project in September 2022, MJ, Susan, and other volunteers joined me in cleaning up litter in the ecotone area of Hanlon Park Woods and Wash Water Lake Stream. In the foreground, Susan, wearing a blue sweater with yellow straps, bends down, gathering trash into a black garbage bag near a fallen tree. In the background, MJ, in a pink hoodie and white pants, holds a trash bag, while I, dressed in black and red, collect debris near a graffiti-covered concrete structure. The lush greenery contrasts with the scattered waste, embodying the ritual cleaning and clearing that marked the start of our seasonal gathering.

This short film captures how I see nature’s beauty—showcasing vibrant flowers, towering trees, and natural landscapes—while also confronting the harsh reality of litter polluting stream waters and roadsides. This contrast helps tell the story of why I created Sister Stream Catcher, an environmental organizing project dedicated to restoring Baltimore’s natural spaces.

Through a blend of color and black-and-white imagery, personal narration, and documentary-style footage, the film demonstrates how litter strips nature of its beauty and sacredness. I believe our environments are a reflection of ourselves—when we neglect or pollute them, we reveal a deeper disregard for our own well-being. This film is both a call to awareness and an invitation to see environmental care as an extension of self-respect and collective healing.

The first Sister Stream Catcher cleanup event at Hanlon Park in December 2021, marking the creation of the very first Wish Tree. Participants gather around a tree, carefully wrapping it with string and decorations as part of an interactive public art installation. Fallen leaves cover the ground, signaling late autumn, as the scene captures the beginning of a community-led effort to restore and reimagine the park, blending environmental care with artistic expression.

This photo captures the first cleanup effort I organized with two friends at the Hanlon Park Wash Water Lake ecotone. Just the three of us collected all these bags of trash, documenting the moment after compiling them. This was the first step toward the creation of the Sister Stream Catcher Project, marking the beginning of a larger vision for environmental stewardship and community care. A memory of the power of friendship, girlhood/womanhood, collective responsibility, and personal accountability in reclaiming and protecting natural green spaces.

Some statements written on the tears from the Global Waters Dance event. 

This puzzle is unapologetic in its stance—a statement against those who commit sexual violence and murder. I believe that serial killers and rapists should not exist, as they steal resources, safety, and life from others. While some argue about morality, justice, and suffering, I think it depends on the perspective—even gods like Kali, Goddess of Death, would demand retribution.

For this puzzle, STRIKE OUT the names of these murderers and rapists—a symbolic act of removal, justice, and resistance against those who have caused irreparable harm.

Names List:
 

ANTHONYSOWELL 

BILLCOSBY 

BROCKTURNER 

CHARLESHOLIFIELD 

DANIELHOLTZCLAW 

DARRENDEONVANN 

DEBRADENISEBROWN 

DEWAYNELEEHARRIS 

*IKETURNER 

JEREMYSTROHMEYER 

MICHAELMADISON 

MICHAELWYSOLOVSKI 

MIKETURNER 

MIKETYSON 

SHANEMPICHE 

WILLIAMKENNEDYSMITH

​

*I KNOW HE IS DEAD BUT IT REALLY ANNOYS ME HOW PEOPLE STILL USE HIS ABUSE AGAINST TINA TURNER AS A PUNCHLINE

"Still Here" honors the survivors—those who have endured violence, those who have lost loved ones to police brutality, serial killers, rapists, and a system that continuously fails to protect them. This piece is dedicated to the family members left behind, who carry the weight of grief, trauma, and the lasting effects of injustice.

Many of these survivors have come close to death themselves, yet they continue to fight, to heal, and to remember.
Take a moment to acknowledge them—to hold space for their resilience, their pain, and their survival.

Names List:

ANNIEHILLARD 

GENEVAREEDVEAL 

GLADYSWADETHOMAS

LATUNDRABILLUPSHENDERSON 

LAVERNETURKS 

MARLENEPINNOCK 

MARYHILLARD 

MELVETTESOCKWELL 

SAMARIA RICE (two different words)

ROSANMILLER 

SARAHPARATIPALHEGYI 

SHAWNMORRIS 

TAJAIRICE 

TASHATHOMAS

"Remember Me" is a tribute to the Black girls and women whose lives were taken by police violence, serial killers, rapists, and systemic negligence. This word search puzzle is not just an activity—it is an act of remembrance, a call to acknowledge those who have been ignored, dismissed, and forgotten.

Black girls and women have long been overlooked by law enforcement, their reports of violence mishandled, falsified, or ignored, only for their cases to be reopened as cold files once they are found dead. This puzzle highlights how the indifference of police, not just the perpetrators, contributes to their deaths—because failing to act, to believe, and to protect is also a form of violence.

During my research for this piece, I encountered horrific details about these tragedies, which deeply affected me—leaving me paranoid, sleep-deprived, and overwhelmed with fear. The reality is that all women, particularly Black women and girls, live with the threat of violence at some point in their lives, whether physical, sexual, or psychological. This is not just a possibility; it is a fact.

Historically, Black girls and women have stood at the forefront of movements, fighting for justice while rarely receiving the same level of advocacy in return. The disproportionate focus on the killings of Black boys and men—both in history and within the Black Lives Matter movement—has meant that Black women’s names are often forgotten, their stories left untold.

This puzzle is an invitation to remember them. To pause, to search for their names, to circle them, and to reflect on who they were beyond the injustice they endured. Their lives mattered. Their stories deserve to be told. Take the time to find them, to hold them in memory, and to ensure that they are never erased.

Name List:

AFRIKKA HARDY
AIYANA STANLEY JONES
AMELDA AMY HUNTER
AMELDA HUNTER
ANGELA DESKINS
ANITH JONES
ARNESHA BOWERS
ASHAWNTY DAVIS
ATATIANA JEFFERSON
CRYSTAL DOZIER
DENISE MARIE HARRIS
DIANE TURNER
ELEANOR BUMPURS
GABRIELLA NEVARE 
JANICE WEBB 
JOYCE CURNELL
KATHRYN JOHNSON
KENDRA JAMES
KIM YVETTE SMITH
KINDRA CHAPMAN
KORRYN GAINES
LATANDRA ELLINGTON
LESHANDA LONG 
MICHELLE CUSEAUX
MICHELLE MASON
MINERVA TRIPP
MIRIAMCAREY
NANCY COBBS
NATASHA MCKENNA
NATISHA ANDERSON
NIA WILSON
NIZAH MORRIS
OLIVIA SMITH
RALKINA JONES
RAYNETTA TURNER
REKIABOYD
SADIE ROBERTS JOSEPH
SANDRA BLAND
SHEILA ABDUL SALAAM
SHELLY FREY
SHENEQUE PROCTOR
SHEREESE FRANCIS
SHERRICE IVERSON
SHETISHA SHEELEY
SHIRELL DAHELEN TERRY
SONYA BILLINGSLEY
TAMIKA TURKES
TANISHA ANDERSON
TARIKA WILSON
TASHA THOMAS
TEAIRA BATEY
TELACIA FORTSON
TISHANA CULVER
anTOINETTE JONES
TONIA CARMICHAEL
TRACEY L MARTIN 
VERNITA TRAYLENE WHEAT

Her merges photography and digital painting to explore healing, sexuality, and the body’s connection to nature. The composition features a profile-like silhouette of a woman with soft peach hair and a radiant yellow face, evoking a sun-like warmth and illumination. Beneath the face, a black heart-like form cradles a vulva nestled inside it, resembling a baby—a visual representation of sheltering, protection, and the transformation of pain through connection to the natural world.

The natural elements within the piece—the radiant sun-like face, the blue sky, earthy brown and green grounds, and deep navy blue waters—symbolize how nature feels to me: restoring, healing, and comforting. The contrast between the dark heart and the surrounding vibrant landscape reflects the tension between trauma and healing, reinforcing the idea that nature holds, nurtures, and restores.

Her is a celebration of femininity and beauty, evoking joy, and pleasure, resisting female sexuality as something shameful but rather reclaiming it as something beautiful, natural, and deeply connected to the world around us

forbidden fruit explores themes of erotic empowerment, desire and the bodily experience of desire, with the apple symbolizing the biblical concept of sex—the forbidden fruit. The red apple acts as a veil, concealing part of the body, reflecting my personal experience with sexual trauma and the silence surrounding it within my family. This concealment mirrors the broader societal taboos around sex, particularly female sexuality, which is often shrouded in guilt, stigma, and repression.

Through this work, I reclaim my narrative, confronting the ways in which desire, trauma, and shame are intertwined. By reclaiming this imagery, Forbidden Fruit challenges perceptions of purity and eroticism, confronting cultural discomfort with female pleasure, autonomy and self-possession. This piece is an assertion that sexuality is both central to human experience and deeply personal—something to be explored on one’s own terms.

Christ is a bold, abstract digital artwork that explores the intersections of power, sexuality and divinity through form and color. The intensity and stark contrast between the colors black, red, and yellow create a visual tension between of the body’s ability to hold both pain and divinity. Using imagery reminiscent of christ in crucifixion, I challenge the ways in which desire, liberation, and faith coexist and conflict, provoking reflection on the relationship between pleasure and shame, suffering and awakening, body and spirit.

rage is an emotionally charged digital artwork that channels the raw intensity of trauma, anger, and reclamation. While anger is often associated with the color red, this piece is stripped down to black and white, heightening its stark, almost violent energy. The absence of color reflects psychological distress and the deep, lasting scars left by sexual violence. The composition features my own body in an open-thigh position, forming a V-shape at the center, with rough, jagged textures radiating outward. The eroded, fractured quality of the image evokes a sense of emptiness, horror, and the hollowness of self in the aftermath of violation.

By abstracting the form, I challenge the viewer to sit with discomfort. Rage is not just an expression of justified anger—it is a confrontation with the sadness, loneliness, and terror I felt when forced to reckon with the loss of my identity, my sexuality, my power, and my autonomy. Through this piece, I transform that pain into something undeniable, demanding visibility for the wounds that are so often ignored or silenced.

spider- is a striking and introspective digital artwork that explores the complexities of navigating sexuality, power and survival in the aftermath of trauma. The composition distorts and mirrors itself, forming a central focal point with two oval-like shapes resembling eyes—watching, confronting, and searching. This eerie symmetry evokes a sense of unease, capturing the tension between fear and agency, between the lingering presence of trauma and the effort to reclaim confidence and control. 

Inspired by the spider’s dual role as both predator and creator, this work speaks to dating, intimacy and discernment as well as the necessity of self-preservation. Just as female spiders consume their mates if the "vibes on the web" are off, this piece reflects my commitment to maintaining high standards of safety and respect in the face of vulnerability. spider- invites viewers to to sit in stillness—like a spider in its web—and reflect on their own relationship with vigilance and empowerment.

-web is an intricate digital artwork designed to emulate the structural complexity of a spider’s web. Fragmented into a geometric network of triangles, this piece reflects the slow and meticulous process of healing from trauma. Where spider- focuses on confrontation and discernment, -web speaks to the art of creation—the patience and care required to rebuild a foundation of power, autonomy, and respect.

Each thread in -web represents the deliberate weaving of boundaries, trust, and self-worth back into my life. Inspired by the resilience of spiders and their ability to construct strong yet delicate webs, this work invites viewers to reflect on the incredibly fragile yet profound strength of healing and the ways in which we navigate our own intricate frameworks of experience.

sacrifice is a provocative digital artwork that examines themes of suffering, redemption, and the complex expectations and historical violences that have been inscribed on the body upon the body, especially naked ones. The image’s abstract composition, resembling the figure of Jesus within my private area, draws a parallel between the pain endured by women with vaginas and vulvas and the sacrifice of Jesus for redemption. 

The title sacrifice reflects the societal burdens imposed women’s bodies—the physical and emotional toll of childbirth, the stigmatization of sex work, and the cultural expectation that women’s bodies exist to serve others' desires without claiming their own. Like Jesus on the cross, women are often expected to give and endure, their suffering framed as necessary, yet rarely acknowledged for its inherent worth.

On a deeply personal level, sacrifice also mirrors my own experience of trauma and loss—the part of me that died when I was sexually abused. Just as Jesus’ crucifixion was framed as an act of redemption, I grapple with the idea of suffering as something imposed, not chosen. This piece is a confrontation of that pain, an acknowledgment of the innocence taken from me, and a reclamation of the body as something that should not have to suffer for the sake of others.

Through abstraction and symbolism, sacrifice invites viewers to reflect on the personal and collective sacrifices that shape our experiences and identities, the ways societal norms commodify and devalue women’s bodies and how suffering has been sanctified rather than questioned.