Graduates over Guns was created in 2016 as a collaborative project between artist Rahmaan Statik and students from Excel Academy in Englewood. Students wanted the mural to depict elders and successful members of the Black community including Martin Luther King Jr., Barack Obama, Emit Till, Oprah Winfrey, and Rosa Parks, among others. The mural shows these figures together with the Chicago skyline and graduating students. Across the top of the mural, the quote, “once you choose anything is possible,” and the images, are meant to uplift and inspire.
