This artwork is on view in the Walker exhibition The Living Years: Art after 1989. The text below is a quote from the artist, reproduced for the artwork's label for that exhibition.

"There's always a beginning and there's never a conclusion. I like the 'once upon a time' part of a story. I'm also very interested in the range of narratives that we tell ourselves (I'm thinking of the African-American community) that define who we are and how we got here. The idea of there being a place called 'African-America' is the heart of the need for this narrative."—Kara Walker