Sam Sanders IV

Hey ma. These last couple of months have been so hard but this past week has unquestionably the most difficult week of my life. On December 1st we lost a queen and gained an angel. Mom, I’ve been fighting to find the words to express the whole in my heart that not having you here has left. Everyday I want to call you and laugh about my day. I want to call you and lean on you for your wisdom or I just want to ask you how you’ve been and hear your voice. Lord knows I miss you so much. But Lord knows I’m soooo happy for you. You are the hardest working, most diligent, most resourceful, most dedicated, and most loving woman that any of us has ever been blessed to have. You were our counselor. Our cheerleader. Our spiritual rock. Our teacher. Our captain. But most importantly, our mom. You’ve always been the real CHAMP, I’ve just borrowed the nickname. And after a long, difficult battle you have your victory! You are now in perfect paradise in perfect peace 🕊️🕊️. I know that you’re up there with nana and aunt Karen and Shirlene having a good old time. I all I wish is that I could see you one more time. I really just wish we could be together. You always knew how to make things just right. And how to make even the hard times special. Every birthday. Every Christmas. Every graduation. Every day. I love you so much mom and this is so hard. All I’ve ever wanted to do was make you as proud as much as I looked up to you. I’ve been refusing to say goodbye, so I’ll just say until we see each other again. Until then, I’m going to keep my word. I’m going to fulfill my promise. I’m going to keep moving forward. I’m going to live my life to fulfill the dreams that you gave me room to grow. Isaiah and are going to become those great men that you built us to be. And even though we can’t see you here with us anymore, we both know that every victory and every blessing that we’ll receive, you will be there with us. Gizmo, dad, Isaiah, and I will be alright because we know that you’ve finally earned the peace that you’ve longed deserved. I miss you mom. You will always be my hero and best friend. 🤍 I thank the Lord for the time that He’s shared you with us 11/11♾️

The last of my three gratitude posts is definitely the most important one to me. This one is for my family, for my parents. This month marked their 36th anniversary. They may not look it, but for over three and a half decades God has blessed my family with their love, dedication, and commitment (lol they’d be the first to tell you that it hasn’t been an easy ride). Firstly, mom and dad: Thank you both for showing me what real black love is. What real couple goals should be. Thank you for love. For grace. For patience. For faith. Thank you for showing what teamwork, partnership, and dedication look like everyday. From every pinewood derby car to every bedtime story, from every long night fighting through homework to being at every art show and in the stands of every game; you are both the foundation from which I grow my future around. I hope that the love I’m building and sharing in my life will manage to live up to the phenomenal example that you have both set for me. I’m grateful for the love I’ve found. Secondly, Ashley: I’m grateful for you, who, through the last half decade has been my friend, my confidant, my competitor, my equal, my cheerleader, my captain, my counselor, and my partner. All the greatness you see in me is just a reflection of the light that radiates from you. And finally, my families: I am blessed and grateful to have you all in my life. It’s been difficult the past couple of years with all the loss that we faced (Karen, Nana, Aunt Hortense, Clarence, Uncle Glenn, Shirlene, Jr., Aunt Kaye, Uncle Teeny, Uncle David…). Just the past two months, I’ve had to say goodbye to 5 people. It’s still hard. For those who have gone before us to join the ancestors, thank you for being role models and heroes. Advocates and healers. You are always missed, loved, and never forgotten. Thank you all for letting me share a bit of my heart this week, it’s good to be able to open up like this every now and again. But this is it for the personal (for now) and back our regularly scheduled program. #blessed #grateful

So, this is one is the second of my three gratitude posts. This one is dedicated to my time at USC, my phenomenal Starkie family, and those friends who saw something special in me that I often lose sight of myself. You all are my family (and those who know me, know I don’t use that term lightly). It was 2 years and 2 weeks ago that I had almost given up getting accepted into the Stark program. Just as my father and I were discussing maintaining faith despite little evidence, the Stark office called me to tell me I had been accepted. Throughout the last two years, I’ve strived, struggled, and grown with 27 of the most creative, amazing, gracious, and passionate people I’ve ever met. They’ve invited me to help bring their visions to life (Unheard, Act of War, Good Bad Things, The Juice) and they’ve rallied behind me while I chased my dreams (Just One Small Thing). I’m so immensely humbled that I finally took a chance on my self to see my childhood dreams come to fruition, and that I landed amongst the arms of this family. Thank you for being there for this architect as he bloomed into the filmmaker he always was. I love all of you!! Sincerely! Lastly, I want to share my gratitude for all my CMU fam and day one riders who built me up to get this far, I love y’all and there is no me without you: Yuriy, Elijah, Cody, Ashley, Feyi, Sabrina, Edrei, Steve, Erica, Max, Russo, Tilghman, Naomi, Lester, Jillian, Ness, Ricky, Sam, Galen, Vinny, Nickie, Christian, Boss Lady, Mary, Vic, Ethan, Michael, Em, Jazz, Njaire, Ben, Cole, Terri’s, Angie, Ro, Hal, Doug… I am truly #Blessed to have such an amazing #family and #community 🙌🏾🙌🏾🥲 #uscgrad #cmu (P.S. I was going to tag you all, but I just learned there’s apparently a “tag limit” 🤷🏾‍♂️… Like I said, I don’t post much)

This is an acrylic on canvas painting of my mother, Rosalind L. Sanders, I recently finished. This honestly may have been one of the most difficult pieces I’ve ever done. Not just for the emotional trial, but because it’s impossible to truly capture how beautiful my mother was. I hope that she would have liked this one. 🕊️🕊️🤍 Dear Ma, this year has been one like no other. I’ve missed your smile and your wisdom. I ve missed your stories and your laughter. I’ve missed your hugs and your prayers. I’ve missed your encouragement and your reassurance. I’ve missed the way that you would hold me in your arms and let me know that you’re still proud of me. I’ve missed hearing about your day or your dreams. I’ve missed you praying with me or just being Ann open ear when I feel alone. I miss you. And all that you are. This may be our first Mother’s Day apart, but I know one day, we’ll get to celebrate it together again. Happy Mother’s Day, ma 11:11 Credits: Thank you for the beautiful scan @artprinterla and the gorgeous framing @blicksantamonica !

I don’t really post much, but I wanted to share some of the ways I’ve been blessed this summer. This is going to be the first of three posts about what I have been grateful for. The first is my baby brother (y’all know him as @zaysanders10_ but I know him a Big Head). I’ve watched this young man grow, thrive, dream, and achieve since the day he was born. I remember when I was 14 and he was 5 he asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. My answer was to “make movies.” When I asked him, without pause, this little kid looked at me and said “play professional basketball.” A million people dream to play ball professionally, and 99.9% never see that dream through. My baby brother put in all the sweat, all the pain, all the determination, and all the faith in God and told the world the same thing he told me that day 18 years ago. Isaiah’s travelled the world to see his dream into reality and now his work has brought him to play professionally for the @nue_falcons in Germany. I’m extremely humbled to look up to this young king. You continue to excel and make our family so proud. I’m honored to even stand in your shadow, baby bro, because at the end of the day, I get to stand beside a living legend in the making. #Blessed #JustAKidFromTheVille

And now we have my favorite part... painting (cold sweat) 😅. I’m trying acrylics and maybe a couple other mediums mixed in...... who knows🤷🏾‍♂️. Enjoy your #superpowers 🌍 #DjangoEmancipated

Fun fact: I’m not a big fan of posting pictures of myself but I am a big fan of giving love when love is given. Shoutout to everyone whose gifted me with love, support, strength, encouragement, and understanding through these past 30 years. Y’all made my #30thbirthday the best yet. 👏🏾🎂🍰🍾👏🏾 I promise I won’t let you all down #bigstufftocome

A lil more work in progress on Django Emancipated. Lil mo’ detail, lil mo’ contrast... It’s a slow progress but it’s been a great experience! I might seek some prints when I’m finished ... anyone interested? ☺️#django #movieposter #blackart #blackartist

It’s been awhile, and I’m sorry y’all. Thank you for those who have been showing me support and love these past few months, it hasn’t gone unnoticed 🙌🏾 Heres some more Django Emancipated poster work in progress images... more ✍🏾to come (I promise 😁) #blackart #blackartist #django #movie

MIB Poster in acrylic and colored pencil detail

MIB Poster in acrylic and colored pencil. Shout out to theOG #MrJuly @willsmith ...... I remember the day is first saw this in theaters with my mom and my boy Cody back in ‘97. I thought it was one of the coolest movies I’d even seen. 23 years later, and it still holds up there 😎 #meninblack #mib #movieposter #blackart #blackartists #willsmith #tommylee