Your Days Are Numbered
Your Days Are Numbered began with me reflecting on the death of Malcolm X, but more importantly, the transformation that existed throughout his life before that moment ever arrived.
While creating this work, I found myself deeply inspired by the emotional intensity of the death scene in Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee. The scene never felt like a simple ending to me. It felt layered, spiritual, and symbolic—as if multiple versions of Malcolm were existing at once within the same moment. That feeling became the foundation of the piece.
Throughout the composition, Malcolm appears repeatedly across different stages of his life and understanding. You see fragments connected to the Nation of Islam, Moorish Science, nationality, and the spiritual discipline of Islam itself—a faith that deeply transformed the way he viewed humanity, identity, and truth. The work also reflects his life-changing experience in Mecca, where his perspective expanded beyond racial division into a broader understanding of spiritual unity and human connection. References to his Moorish American identity and the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz appear throughout the work as symbols of transformation, self-definition, and rebirth. Each image throughout the composition represents movement not only physically, but mentally and spiritually.
As I layered the collage together, I became interested in the idea that identity is never fixed. Malcolm’s evolution reflected someone constantly searching, questioning, refining, and transforming himself through lived experience. That became deeply personal to me because I see that same process within my own life and creative journey.
The bullet wounds scattered throughout the composition symbolize more than physical violence. They represent what happens when truth, growth, and transformation begin challenging the structure around them. The title, Your Days Are Numbered, carries multiple meanings within the work. On one side, it reflects the tension and inevitability surrounding Malcolm’s assassination. On the other, it speaks to mortality itself, the awareness that time is limited, and transformation must happen before it runs out.
The black, red, and gray palette carries emotional weight throughout the canvas. There is grief within it, but also power, awakening, discipline, and rebirth. The layers remain active and unsettled because Malcolm’s legacy itself still feels unfinished, still moving through culture, thought, and identity today.
As I worked through the painting, I found myself reflecting on my own evolution as a man and artist. The process of unlearning, redefining self, seeking truth, and understanding how experience reshapes identity over time.
In that way, Your Days Are Numbered became more than a reflection of Malcolm X’s death. It became a reflection of transformation itself. The realization that before people become symbols, they first endure the difficult process of becoming themselves.
While creating this work, I found myself deeply inspired by the emotional intensity of the death scene in Malcolm X, directed by Spike Lee. The scene never felt like a simple ending to me. It felt layered, spiritual, and symbolic—as if multiple versions of Malcolm were existing at once within the same moment. That feeling became the foundation of the piece.
Throughout the composition, Malcolm appears repeatedly across different stages of his life and understanding. You see fragments connected to the Nation of Islam, Moorish Science, nationality, and the spiritual discipline of Islam itself—a faith that deeply transformed the way he viewed humanity, identity, and truth. The work also reflects his life-changing experience in Mecca, where his perspective expanded beyond racial division into a broader understanding of spiritual unity and human connection. References to his Moorish American identity and the name El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz appear throughout the work as symbols of transformation, self-definition, and rebirth. Each image throughout the composition represents movement not only physically, but mentally and spiritually.
As I layered the collage together, I became interested in the idea that identity is never fixed. Malcolm’s evolution reflected someone constantly searching, questioning, refining, and transforming himself through lived experience. That became deeply personal to me because I see that same process within my own life and creative journey.
The bullet wounds scattered throughout the composition symbolize more than physical violence. They represent what happens when truth, growth, and transformation begin challenging the structure around them. The title, Your Days Are Numbered, carries multiple meanings within the work. On one side, it reflects the tension and inevitability surrounding Malcolm’s assassination. On the other, it speaks to mortality itself, the awareness that time is limited, and transformation must happen before it runs out.
The black, red, and gray palette carries emotional weight throughout the canvas. There is grief within it, but also power, awakening, discipline, and rebirth. The layers remain active and unsettled because Malcolm’s legacy itself still feels unfinished, still moving through culture, thought, and identity today.
As I worked through the painting, I found myself reflecting on my own evolution as a man and artist. The process of unlearning, redefining self, seeking truth, and understanding how experience reshapes identity over time.
In that way, Your Days Are Numbered became more than a reflection of Malcolm X’s death. It became a reflection of transformation itself. The realization that before people become symbols, they first endure the difficult process of becoming themselves.