“Jo Joe & Billy” (set) 24” x 12” acrylic - could be any southern African American couple from the past much like my parents. I never thought of my folks as part of the great migration, but they were! Wiley and Annie wanted to start a new life together, free from the limits of segregation. Mom and Dad came from large families, grew up farming the land in Wetumpka, Alabama. They decided in 1940, before I was born to leave Alabama’s cotton fields, as did many of my aunts and uncles. My parents settled in Buffalo, NY while other family member’s destinations became Cleveland and Detroit. All were looking for a better way of life for their families, which they found working in the steel mills and car factories.
