THE HISTORY OF WE

A lyrical meditation on the chronology of humanity’s shared beginnings.

“What does ‘the beginning’ look like?” It unfolds here as both poetry and revelation, an invitation to recognize the connection between past and present. Rather than presenting history as something distant or hidden, Smith emphasizes that our origins—our art, our inventions, our knowledge of how to cultivate land, our propensity for exploration, and more—are plainly visible in the earliest marks we left upon the African continent and, eventually, the rest of our planet. In his author’s note, Smith states that he wrote the work as a counternarrative to textbooks that omitted mention of early African civilizations. Depicting Black adults and children creating, building, and thriving, his illustrations close with a diverse group of people standing proudly—a powerful demonstration of how “one group became many… / became the first global population… / Became We.” His light but layered verse resists oversimplifying; he trusts readers to find themselves among our documented beginnings and within the very concept of “we.” It’s impossible to overstate the emotional effect of Smith’s artwork—simultaneously majestic and intimate. Whether depicting the swirling cosmos or individual eyes alight as they gaze out at readers, every single brush stroke is alive with movement and intention. An annotated timeline adds accessible anthropological context to each aspect of humanity discussed.

A triumph.