Happy Born Day Daddy
Today is my dad's birthday. My dad is the reason I am who I am today. I get my style, creativity, my love of hats, music, art, jazz and culture all from this man. Him and my grandmother taught me pretty much everything I know about everything. Most girls look up to their mothers, I looked up to my father and wanted to be just like him. He taught me how to play chess when I was 13 and also how to paint a canvas from a projected image. This man was, has and always will be my #1 inspiration. I am literally the younger female version of him. I get my big head, my big nose, my knocked knees, my smart mouth, my gap, my chinky eyes and my pointed ears from him. He is honestly the only artist that I have ever copied or mimicked. Everyone in my family have always told me that I was JUST like him. His last words to me were...... "You can do anything if you put your mind to it." May you rest in peace. You're still alive through me.
~ Jehan's dad ~
artist/photographer/drummer and jazz musician
Painted at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC
An acquaintance of Malcolm X
My dad took these photos at the Million Man March in Washington, DC in 1995
Dear new generation, I know you would like to believe that you are responsible for the invention, creation, and innovation of everything. Sorry, but you're NOT! Niggas were wearing prints, tye dye, five panels, and playing jazz fusion when you were swimming in your father's testicles, decades before your existence. There was just no Youtube and social media for them to post it on. There's nothing new under the sun.
Daddy always wore colors, prints, and hats as far as I could remember.
Daddy's painting - Sea of People
I don't know who this woman was but daddy had his eyes closed. Lol
Daddy's projector and tambourine
Some of daddy's books.
Billy Stewart - Summertime
(Jehan's dad on the drums.)
If you ever go to Kinston, North Carolina and mention the name Harry Petteway, also known as "Petteway", EVERYONE will know exactly who you're talking about. This man was the Kanye West of Kinston, NC...a local celebrity. Every painting in every art gallery and every mural on every street corner was painted by this man plus he played jazz (drums and flute) at Sugar Hill Tavern in Kinston, NC.
Mom
I'm grateful to have the parents that I had and that they instilled in me what they did. I'm grateful them two were there to protect me from the ignorance of the South. People have always asked me if I was from up North or another country because of how I dressed, how I spoke, and my way of thinking. I owe it all to my parents and my upbringing and them instilling the knowledge that they did in me. My mom, the Erykah Badu of Kinston, NC and my dad, the Kanye West/Andre 3000 of Kinston, NC; for without them I might have turned out a totally different person. I make the music I make, dress the way I dress, and think the way I think because of them. A Pisces mom and a Gemini dad, that's one hell of a combination!
*In my Kanye voice: "I know my code. I know my DNA. I know what I'm made up of."