The narrative behind A little blue black girl magic, the conceptual and visual source stems from my former mentor, the acclaimed photographer and folklorist Roland Freeman. In the late 1970s, Freeman extensively documented vanishing cultural traditions and community life across both the urban and rural American South. His practice was deeply communal, often focused on raising funds for and uplifting folk artists, quilters, and traditional storytellers.

Significantly influenced by a childhood meeting with Zora Neale Hurston, Freeman’s worldview was profoundly shaped by Black feminist thought. This intellectual awakening led to lifelong friendships and collaborations with foundational figures such as Margaret Walker, Bell Hooks, and Alice Walker.

While Freeman frequently photographed community elders, a substantial and vital portion of his archive devoted rare, intentional focus to Black youth. Much like his predecessor Gordon Parks—who brilliantly captured both the stark social realities and the beautiful innocence of Black childhood in seminal works like Department Store, Mobile, Alabama (1956), which features a young Black girl standing elegantly under a neon "Colored Entrance" sign—Freeman dedicated his camera to young Black girls precisely because they were so deeply underrepresented in the traditional artistic canon.