Christopher — See Me Because

I’m 15 years old and I grew up in Milwaukee. I’m a Hispanic man and an athlete. I look up to my parents because they raised me and they taught me what a good person is.

This portrait expresses my emotions towards basketball and being from Milwaukee. It’s inspired by the one of Giannis, holding out the basketballs on each side. Because I am also aware of certain issues that are going on right now and want to see change, we put those issues on the basketballs. One of them is Black Lives Matter and the other one has to do with immigration. I love basketball. It’s really important to me. This portrait of me also shows that everyone sees things. Just because you play sports, it doesn't mean that that's just your only focus or that you don't see what else is going on in the world.

I think that since people only see certain people playing sports, they assume something. In football, one person who took a knee for his beliefs got kicked out of the NFL. I think we have to remember they are people too. They’re not just players that play for your amusement, just to watch. They have ideas and their own beliefs.

I would assume that people who know me, will probably just describe me as goofy or fun to be around because I like laughing and I like hanging out with people in general. I like being seen this way. This portrait shows that I am serious too.

I'm still not 100% sure of what I want to do in the future. All I know is that I want to go to college, get a good job where I can make some extra money and give some to my parents.

It’s important for me because my parents raised me my entire life and I feel like it would be good for me to give back to them in whatever way I can.

Milwaukee, 2020