This painting pays homage to the poem "I Am Somebody," written by an Atlanta-based Baptist pastor and civil rights activist named Reverend William Holmes Borders, Sr. The poem states, "I am Somebody! I am Somebody! I may be poor, But I am Somebody. I may be young, But I am Somebody. I may be on welfare, But I am Somebody. I may be small, But I am Somebody. I may have made mistakes, But I am Somebody. My clothes are different, My face is different, My hair is different, But I am Somebody. I am Black, Brown, or White. I speak a different language But I must be respected, protected, never rejected. I am God's child!" Two years after Williams painted this canvas, the Reverend Jesse Jackson recited "I Am Somebody" on an episode of Sesame Street in front of a multi-racial group of children, who together repeatedly recited the chorus of "I Am Somebody."