Fifty names. One for each state. Each represents a Black life taken by police or white vigilantes.

F the Flag Duey transforms a monochrome American flag into a durag bearing the names of Black people whose lives were taken across the country. By reshaping a national symbol into an object rooted in Black identity and culture, the piece confronts the distance between America’s promise of freedom and the reality of whose lives are protected. Freedom cannot be equally celebrated while Black lives continue to be taken by those sworn to protect them or those emboldened to act without consequence.

The piece remembers Broderick Dixon of Alabama, 2018; Bishar Hassan of Alaska, 2019; Dion Johnson of Arizona, 2020; Artago Damon Howard of Arkansas, 2022; Stephon Clark of California, 2018; De’Von Bailey of Colorado, 2019; Mubarak Soulemane of Connecticut, 2020; Jeremy McDole of Delaware, 2015; Corey Jones of Florida, 2015; Rayshard Brooks of Georgia, 2020; Lindani Myeni of Hawaii, 2021; Josiah Gilliam of Idaho, 2020; Laquan McDonald of Illinois, 2014; Dreasjon Reed of Indiana, 2020; Brian Gregory Scott of Iowa, 2015; Cedric Lofton of Kansas, 2021; Breonna Taylor of Kentucky, 2020; Alton Sterling of Louisiana, 2016; Chance David Baker of Maine, 2017; Korryn Gaines of Maryland, 2016; Shacoby Kenny of Massachusetts, 2018; Patrick Lyoya of Michigan, 2022; Daunte Wright of Minnesota, 2021; Kohen Wiley of Mississippi, 2022; Michael Brown of Missouri, 2014; David Solomon of Montana, 2019; Kenneth Jones of Nebraska, 2015; Byron Williams of Nevada, 2019; Nickenley Turenne of New Hampshire, 2017; Najee Seabrooks of New Jersey, 2023; Mary Hawkes of New Mexico, 2023; Saheed Vassell of New York, 2018; Andrew Brown Jr. of North Carolina, 2021; Kurt Johnson of North Dakota, 2020; Tamir Rice of Ohio, 2014; Terence Walker of Oklahoma, 2015; Patrick Kimmons of Oregon, 2018; Antwon Rose II of Pennsylvania, 2018; Cornel “Jai” Young Jr. of Rhode Island, 2022; Walter Scott of South Carolina, 2015; Tashii Brown of South Dakota, 2019; Jocques Clemmons of Tennessee, 2017; Atatiana Jefferson of Texas, 2019; Darrien Hunt of Utah, 2014; Kenneth Johnson of Vermont, 2019; Marcus-David Peters of Virginia, 2018; Charleena Lyles of Washington, 2017; Wayne Jones of West Virginia, 2013; Dontre Hamilton of Wisconsin, 2014; and Wade Hampton of Wyoming, 2024.

Can a country truly call itself free when freedom and protection are not shared equally?