In 1973, Williams moved to Washington, D.C., and enrolled in the graduate program at Howard University. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting from Howard in 1976. This piece memorializes his relationship to his parents, Abner and Alleane Williams. His father Abner was a steelworker in the steel plants
on the South Side of Chicago. He and Alleane lived in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago for 70 years, raising 11 children, and living to see the births of 25 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren. In this loving portrait, we see through Gerald's eyes the loving relationship he had with his parents. We also see in this image evidence of evolutions emerging in the artist's aesthetic style, as his images become less painterly and more flat, and begin to contain more hard-edged areas of pure color.